David Walsh hails Gareth Thomas for providing a watershed moment in sport in The Sunday Times.
"When you are the most-capped player in the history of Welsh rugby, and you have been known always as a tough guy, a bloke’s bloke, it is not easy to then say: “Actually, I'm gay.” Publicly, rugby players have never been gay and Gareth Thomas has now done the game and the greater community a service in truthfully telling his story.
"It is at once sad and life-affirming. There is sadness in what he and his ex-wife Jemma have been through but there is much to admire in the way Thomas eventually dealt with the reality of his sexuality. It is also heartening that he feels he can now speak publicly without making his life as a rugby player any harder.
"Thomas knew he was gay from the age of 16 or 17 but as he says, knowing something and accepting it are different things. There are many reasons why teenagers struggle to deal with their homosexuality and for Thomas, rugby was one of the factors. “I could never accept it because I knew I would never be accepted as a gay man and still achieve what I wanted to achieve in the game.”
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