Gareth Thomas was born in Sarn, near Bridgend, on 25 July 1974. He played at centre and wing and later in his career at full-back at test level. Originally with the Bridgend club, he later joined Cardiff before returning to Bridgend as captain and led them to a championship-winning season in the Welsh League in 2002/03. He then led the newly-forrmed regional outfit the Celtic Warriors before joining Stade Toulousain where he shared in Heieneken Cup success. His travels continued with another return, to Cardiff Blues, before ending his playing career in rugby league with the Crusaders, based in Wrexham, and three tries in four league internationals for Wales. Between 1995, when he scored a hat-trick of tries on his test debut in the Rugby World Cup, and 2007 Gareth Thomas played in 100 tests for Wales - the first player to do so - and set another individual record with 40 tries. He also captained Wales in 21 internationals and played three times - 1996, 2003 and as a try-scorer in 2004 - for Wales against the Barbarians. In 2005 he toured New Zealand with the British Isles and played in four matches including the three tests and took over as team captain in the second and third tests after an injury to Brian O'Driscoll.