Rugby World Cup
Gareth Thomas rips into England in lead up to Rugby World Cup clash
ESPN Staff
September 24, 2015
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Former Wales star Gareth Thomas has ripped into England days before the Pool A showdown between the sides at Twickenham, writing in a column for the Times of London, that he played his career with "a hatred for the English jersey".

"I used to love playing for Wales and to have a hatred for the English jersey showed how much I loved Wales, my country," Thomas wrote. "It was, and is, a fierce rivalry and as a competitor you had to hate them. If Wales beat England but lose to Australia next week, the nation will be happier than if Wales lose to England and then beat Australia."

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Thomas played in 100 Tests and he was an inspirational leader for his country, but nothing was more significant than beating England and making his countrymen proud.

"It's not just the historical stuff between England and Wales. It's that this is the game when everyone in Wales comes together. It drove me on as a captain and as a player. I used to try not to use what might be seen as historical injustices to motivate myself and my team. I wanted us to have our own motivation and, speaking for myself, I got it by thinking of what it meant to the country.

"It meant 80 minutes of rugby against one particular team and if we won I knew that would make three million people happy. The reason I played rugby was not only because I enjoyed it, but also because I wanted to make people happy.

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"The significance of victory over England was huge. It meant three million people going to work on Monday with a smile on their faces and a skip in their step. It meant that we had given Wales a platform, a voice against the bigger nations and, in England's case, the biggest nation.

"People don't understand Wales, what it stands for. They only understand England. They know London. So to beat England was to give voice to a nation, to create history."

Some of his former opponents didn't miss out on the spray either with Thomas ripping into several of England's stars saying he "hated Matt Dawson, Will Greenwood, Richard Hill and Lawrence Dallaglio when they wore the white shirt of England. They epitomised the arrogance of the Empire."

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