Charles 'Charlie' Thomas (1864 – 8 March 1948) was a Welsh

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 international rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 utility player

Utility player

In sport, a utility player is one who can play several positions competently, a sort of jack of all trades. Sports in which the term is often used include association football , baseball, rugby, rugby league, water polo and softball....

 who played club rugby for Newport and invitational rugby for the Barbarians

Barbarian F.C.

The Barbarian Football Club, usually referred to as the Barbarians and nicknamed the "Baa-Baas", is an invitational rugby union team based in Britain...

. Thomas won nine caps for Wales

Wales national rugby union team

The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...

.

Rugby career

Thomas joined first class team Newport in 1885 and while at the club was utilised in multiple positions throughout his career. Thomas played as fly-half, scrum-half, centre, half back and wing and had a very high score rate, with 99 tries in 215 appearances for Newport. During Newport's 1891/92 invincible season, he partnered legendary Welsh captain Arthur Gould at centre.

In 1888, Thomas was selected to represent Wales for the first time in a game against Ireland as part of the 1888 Home Nations Championship

1888 Home Nations Championship

The 1888 Home Nations Championship was the sixth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Three matches were played between 4 February and 10 March. It was contested by Ireland, Scotland and Wales. England was excluded from the Championship due to their refusal to join the...

. Although Wales lost the game Thomas was reselected for the very next Welsh team in a game against the touring Māoris

1888-1889 New Zealand Native football team

The 1888–1889 New Zealand Native football team was a New Zealand football team that toured Britain, Australia and New Zealand in 1888 and 1889. The team was composed mainly of players of Māori ancestry, although several Pakeha were included in the squad. The tour was a private endeavour, and was...

 at St Helens. Wales won the match by one goal and two tries

Try

A try is the major way of scoring points in rugby league and rugby union football. A try is scored by grounding the ball in the opposition's in-goal area...

 to nil, but Thomas was on the losing team when his club side, Newport, faced the Māoris four days later.

Thomas would play another seven games for his country, including all games in the 1889 tournament

1889 Home Nations Championship

The 1889 Home Nations Championship was the seventh series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Three matches were played between 2 February and 2 March. It was contested by Ireland, Scotland and Wales...

 and 1890 tournament

1890 Home Nations Championship

The 1890 Home Nations Championship was the eighth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Six matches were played between 1 February and 15 March. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.-Table:-Results:...

. It was during 1890 that Thomas scored his only international points, when he scored a try in a draw against Ireland at Landsdowne Road.

International matches played

Wales (rugby union) 1890, 1891

• Ireland
  Ireland national rugby union team
  The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...
  
  1888, 1889, 1890, 1891 1888 1889, 1890