Everyone at Cardiff Blues would like to extend their congratulations to David Young and Gareth Thomas who were selected for the Welsh Rugby Hall of Fame, at a glittering ceremony at the Arms Park last night.
Everyone at Cardiff Blues would like to extend their congratulations to David Young and Gareth Thomas who were selected for the Welsh Rugby Hall of Fame, at a glittering ceremony at the Arms Park last night.
Born in Aberdare in 1967, Dai gained a record fifty-one caps for Wales as a prop forward and became their 113th captain in 2000. He made his international debut as a 19 year-old against England in 1987 in the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup.
Dai joined Cardiff RFC in 1988 before moving to Rugby League, where he played for Leeds and Salford. When he moved to Leeds his transfer fee was a then world record of £150,000, he also captained Wales in the 1995 Rugby League World Cup.
After rejoining Cardiff, Dai was appointed captain from the beginning of the 1998 season for four seasons. Dai continued playing for the Blues but also began his coaching career at the club; coaching the forwards. He became Head Coach the summer of 2002, following Rudy Joubert's return to South Africa.
Dai also went on three British and Irish Lions tours in 1989, 1997 and 2001, the only player to tour with the Lions in three different decades, and was a playing squad member in two Rugby World Cups.
Gareth "Alfie" Thomas is one of Welsh rugby's biggest characters. The versatile player has done it all in the game. Thomas won his 100th cap for Wales against Fiji during the Rugby World Cup in 2007. He was Captain of Wales's Grand Slam winning team in 2005 as well as captaining the British and Irish Lions on their tour of New Zealand the same year.
Gareth started his career at Bridgend RFC. He then moved to Pontypridd, but never actually played a game for them before re-signing for Bridgend. He then spent a spell at Cardiff RFC starting in 1997 before rejoining hometown club Bridgend RFC again in 2001 and captaining them to a Welsh Premier Division title in 2003
He then joined the Celtic Warriors before moving to France to one of the giants of European rugby Toulouse. He helped the club to a Heineken Cup victory in 2005 after a victory over Stade Français at Murrayfield. He joined the Cardiff Blues in 2007 and captained Wales to the 2007 RWC.