Alfie happy to join the party

Gerry Thornley talks to the effervescent Wales captain who has put disappointment with Toulouse behind him to leap into the Lions fray

Stade Toulousain versus Stade Français. The French Championship semi-finals in Bordeaux. About 30,000 of the 45,000 capacity are Toulouse supporters.

Their side trails 23-18 entering the last play of the game. Florian Fritz breaks clean through the Stade Français defence and is heading towards their line with support on his shoulders.

He can even cut in and score underneath the posts. A Stade Français defender flings himself to the ground and despairingly flicks his hand at Fritz's foot. Fritz slips, falls and loses control of the ball. The full-time whistle sounds. Toulouse are out. Stade progress to tomorrow's final against Biarritz. Gareth Thomas can head off to Auckland and hook up with the Lions two weeks late, but one week earlier than it might have been.

"It was a nightmare. Fritz had broken through clear to the line and one of their players made a despairing ankle tap. He could have offloaded, he went to the floor and lost the ball. It was a better game than the Heineken Cup final, because that was dire. They just defended us out, scored some pretty crappy tries, didn't create much, just defended. It was like a home match."

Mixed feelings? "I was devastated, I was gutted. I really, really wanted to get to the final with the boys and I really wanted to play in a French Championship final but it wasn't to be. But if there was any kind of consolation then it gave me the chance to come over here. It was very mixed feelings but on one side of the coin I suppose there was a little bit of good to come out of it."

He'd been placed in a horrible tug-of-war by club and four countries, so to speak, but during the last two weeks, there was no anguish in Thomas's mind.

"My commitment to Toulouse has always been the same as any club I've ever played for: 100 per cent. I was keeping all my notes, and keeping up with what all the guys were doing and I realised I was missing things but it was a sacrifice I knew I was making and it was a sacrifice I was willing to make."

Thomas accepts he has a bit of catching up to do but he doesn't necessarily see reaching the Test team as the be-all and end-all. "I've come here and my objective is to make it a successful tour and be a part of a successful tour. Yeah, I want to be on the Test team but my ultimate goal is to help make this party of 40-plus players a successful party."

Along with the other late arrival, Jason Robinson, who stayed back in Manchester with his unwell wife as she expected their fourth child, Thomas immediately gave a sense of real presence at a press conference.

In the post-Dallaglio scheme of things, Thomas has been billed as one of those waiting to step into Lol's shoes after his pragmatic, easy-going, call-it-as-you-see-it captaincy helped guide Wales to their Grand Slam. He's not having it.

"I'd never walk tall or stand above anyone else. I know my station. Like I've said before, if I've got something to say that's constructive and people want to listen then I'll say it. But I haven't come here especially to be a leader or especially to talk out."

He was asked whether he had a preference for wing, fullback or centre: "Well I think it's obvious," he began. "With all the talk about number 10 I'm the only man for the job. There's no arguing with that," he laughed, and quickly acknowledged that the performances of Josh Lewsey, Geordan Murphy and co in the outside backs so far didn't exactly give him any right to pick and choose. Just take his chance, like everyone else.

Thomas and Robinson conceded they had some catching up to do, but Thomas - along with his fellow French-based countryman Stephen Jones - is more match hardened than most in the squad.

"Like I've said many times before, I'm not always a big fan of constant training. I wake up on a Monday morning to go training because I know I've got a game on the Saturday at the end of it, so it's been great for me. I haven't missed out on any match fitness and I'm coming over here with that fitness inside me and ready to play straight away."

Having lost a thriller to the All Blacks at a throbbing Millennium Stadium, Thomas would dearly love to add a Lions series win in the next month to his CV. "I think any team to come out here and win would be amazing. I've only been here three days and this country is flat out mad on rugby.

"It's crazy. The television channels, everything is to do with rugby; I just can't believe it. They live and breathe it, and to come over here and hopefully achieve a series victory is what it's all about.

"Alfie", daft as a brush and refreshingly irreverent, has landed, and the Lions are the better for it. Better late than never.