Wales star faces new battle for place in team - from his own relative

Steffan Thomas' signing has flown under the radar but is exciting many at the Ospreys

Gareth Thomas is hopeful his cousin Steffan can follow in his footsteps and become a senior Wales international after joining the Ospreys.

The former Scarlets prop has been signed as a replacement for Nicky Smith and while he is not exactly a marquee arrival he has the raw minerals to thrive under the tutelage of scrum coach Duncan Jones. Thomas himself was a late developer, having first been capped at the age of 26 mainly because Toby Booth had put his faith in him when previous Ospreys coaches hadn't.

And Thomas, who is now Wales' first-choice loosehead, believes his cousin will thrive on the Ospreys side of the Loughor Bridge. "We've signed my cousin Steff and I think he'll be a really good signing for us," said the 31-year-old. "It suits him to be at the Ospreys because he's got more of an Ospreys character about him and he's a hard bloke from a farming background.

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"He's going to be really good for us. I'm really happy because as kids growing up we'd spend summers on the farm together and since me going to the Ospreys and moving from home we haven't spent much time together.

"Now that he's there it's good to spend more time with him and we both have a lot of fun together. Being a front-rower at the Ospreys working with Duncan is really good and that's what helped me a lot and working with international props as well.

"So, for him to come in and work a lot with Duncan and develop his game a little bit more. You never know but I feel like he could easily become an international as well."

The Ospreys put a huge emphasis on scrummaging and have a strong pool of front-rowers. Where other Welsh sides crumbled under pressure the Ospreys set-piece was arguably the difference between them reaching the United Rugby Championship play-offs last season and missing out.

Ospreys boss Booth is excited by Thomas' potential and believes he could be another rough diamond the club can polish. "On Gar Thom when I got here he was the third choice loosehead which I found surprising," said Booth.

"I saw his athletic potential but there was a few things I had to iron out. It was his first time working more consistently with Duncan and he sits here four years later as the first choice loosehead for Wales.

"So, that speaks adverts for him and our programme. We had a similar conversation with Steff when we recruited him and we knew Nicky was going.

"He's been very visible in a lot of our pre-season games. Maybe we play a game that's more suited to him and maybe we treasure things slightly different to the Scarlets but I don't know because I can't speak about their camp.

"But from an athletic point of view and a determination point of view he's been very visible and our aim will be to make him into a good scrummager like his cousin. All signs so far have been positive."