Gareth Thomas has insisted that playing rugby league for Wales will be potentially a bigger honor than doing so in union.
The man who played 100 times for his country in the 15-man code has been named in the 48-man Wales rugby league training squad for the Alitalia European Cup games against Scotland, Ireland and France and their friendly against Italy in October.
The call comes only a few months after Thomas’ high-profile switch of codes to the Wrexham-based Crusaders, and appears to have triggered a huge upsurge in national pride for a player who always wore his heart on his sleeve throughout his 12 years as a Welsh union international.
And there are four more up and coming South Wales Scorpions stars who could make their first appearance – Andrew Gay, Joe Burke, Lewis Reece and Steve Parry – while Leigh East’s new signing Owain Brown, who was a stand-out performer for Wales Students in their recent home nations campaign, has also been selected.
“For me to hopefully say I’ve represented Wales in both codes is a great honour for me and my family and is one of the highlights of my career.”
Wales will be defending the European Cup they won last year as they look to qualify for the Four Nations tournament in 2011 to take on England, Australia and New Zealand.
The squad includes 16 potential new caps including Thomas, who says former Welsh dual code international Allan Bateman is his inspiration.
He continued: “He was a dual-code international and hopefully I can give as much to the Wales Rugby League team as I did in union. I never officially retired from international rugby when I played union, so I never thought in my wildest dream that I would play for Wales again.
“And, never in my wildest, wildest dreams, would I have thought I would be representing Wales in rugby league. It’s a great honour for me.”
Six players from Wales Under-18s, who play in Super League Academy sides, have also been named, with an under-23 international against Italy due to take place alongside the senior friendly.
“It is a great feeling,” he said. “It will mean as much, if not more for me to represent Wales in Rugby League.
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