Gareth Thomas beaten in homophobic Cardiff attack
Welsh rugby legend Gareth Thomas has released a video on Twitter after he was attacked in his home city of Cardiff.
Thomas – rugby union’s first openly gay player – says he was the victim of a hate crime.
A clearly bruised Thomas gave a brief overview of the incident in the 38-second long video.
“This morning I’ve decided to make what hope will be a positive video. Last night was the victim, in my home city of a hate crime for my sexuality.
“Why I want it to be positive is because I wanted to say thank you to the police who were involved and who allowed me to do restorative justice, because I thought they could learn more that way than any other way.
“And also to the people of Cardiff who supported me, because there are a lot of people out there who want to hurt us. Unfortunately for them, there’s a lot more people who wanted to help us heal.”
— Gareth Thomas (@gareththomas14) November 18, 2018
The rugby community offered their support to Thomas on the social media platform.
Welsh scrumhalf Rhys Webb tweeted: “They Picked on the wrong person there mate. Hope your ok. You’ve got my full support”.
The BBC’s Jill Douglas wrote: “Well put Alfie – very sorry you had to experience this, but a typically positive and uplifting reaction.”
Well put Alfie – very sorry you had to experience this, but a typically positive and uplifting reaction. Big??
— Jill Douglas (@JillADouglas) November 18, 2018
Gabby Logan also chipped in with: “Loads of love big man.”
Loads of love big man xx
— Gabby Logan (@GabbyLogan) November 18, 2018
The incident mars what was otherwise a happy evening for Welsh Rugby.
Wales cruised to an ultimately comfortable 74-24 victory over Tonga on Saturday.
Steff Evans, Tomos Williams, Tyler Morgan, Cory Hill, Aled Davies and Rhys Patchell all touched down before Liam Williams marked his big day with a second try.
Dan Biggar – back in the side having lost the number 10 shirt to Gareth Anscombe for last weekend’s victory over Australia – contributed 19 points, including 14 from the tee, to give coach Warren Gatland a selection headache ahead of next weekend’s visit of South Africa.
The result extends Wales’ winning run to seven matches at home. Only once since 1978 have they enjoyed a longer such run – nine games between 1997 and 1999.
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1 Go to commentsI think Farrell despite all of the stick he gets in the media is still one of if not the best fly half in the world. He is literally the full package. He can kick one of the best in the world, probably has the best defensive game of a fly half in the world and if he wants to he can run, take contact and find an offload to keep the pace of the attack. I dont know why he isnt spoken more about still being one of the best in the world with the likes of dupont. Farrell is the ultimate captain and team leader and is experienced- he has been in nearly any situation you can think of. I still believe due to these reasons that he is England’s best ever player and is still one of the best players in the world.
48 Go to commentsBlues are dominating up front and that’s been a long time coming. They have won the up front confrontation which is where canes, hilanders and act brumbies are also strong.
3 Go to commentsJust watched brumbies v safas game sadly not a show in he’ll thryr anywhere near quarters or semi contention. Admittedly some issues around new comers bot what stands out for me is coaching management, poor game planning and accuracy.
5 Go to commentsOne tough SOB!
16 Go to commentsI’ve put on 4/5 kilos since the beginning of the season too. Not good kilos. Bad kilos.
3 Go to commentsSurely there’s a ‘no knobheads’ policy ?
2 Go to commentsWallaroos have no chance of beating the Black Ferns unless Canada upsets them in Christchurch tomorrow but I doubt that as well!
1 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Could the victim do a course to reverse the long term CTE damage from the cheapshot?
2 Go to commentsTruely great player. In social media and opinion pieces he was held up and flogged for the results. People wanted someone to crucify, and he was the captain. He was still an immense presence respected by his peers. His battles with Siya Kolisi belong up with with Collins vs Burger in my opinion. Unlucky to be carded in the final, but I don’t agree that his red card was the defining moment. Not when you look at the dominant performances of the Springboks (PSDT in particular.) I think Cane should be remembered for the spirit and physicality that is special to test rugby.
16 Go to commentsSam was the man until he got injured .
16 Go to comments_Crusaders versus Leinster _at the moment might be a rout! But I would like to see the Blues play Toulouse, the Hurricanes front up against Stade Francais, and the Chiefs go against Toulon.
157 Go to commentsLove it when we overlap! Promise it was not forethought.
19 Go to commentsjfc can this guy plz stay out of the news for one week
2 Go to commentsIf stormers aren’t available. Based on form and likely availability at the time of the wales Test, you’d think Masuku would be a no-brainer to start. But starting Jordan also makes sense having Masuku come off the bench to close out the game.
2 Go to commentsGlad Tom Curry not playing needs time to recover such a great player also his brother Ben how well is he playing now .
1 Go to commentsLet’s examine what might be irking the brainless E: Up until 20 years before this coming Julys tests: 16 games: 14 wins for SA; 1 win for Ire; 1 draw From 20 years until July’ tests Ireland V SA: 13 matches Ireland won 8; SA won 4; 1 draw Points scored Ireland 261; SA 189 Ave Winning Margin: Ireland 11 points; SA 4 points (away 3, home 6) Away win record: Ireland 33.33%; SA 25% Neutral matches 1: Ireland win RWC France 2023. Last SA win June 2016 (8 years ago) They boast 3 World cups in that period (they do boast). The above record is not good, probably not much better than theirs against NZ for same period. That’s why the dopey E is starting fights in his head. He will probably ship a yellow when things don’t go their way in the first test.
127 Go to commentsGoode is like a wet fart on The Rugby Pod and should be shoved aside. Jim knows what he is on about and can get on better without Goode’s nasty little cheap shots.
127 Go to commentsBrumbies will win, crusaders are pretty awful this year
1 Go to commentsThis has the makings of a good match. That’s Leinster’s second team but its a good one (stronger than the teams in SA recently). Ulster are really turning a page. Ryan back is huge, and Keenan too. This could be a cracker.
1 Go to comments