{"id":408058,"date":"2026-02-04T20:59:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T20:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/408058\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T20:59:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T20:59:11","slug":"wales-rugby-international-banned-for-drink-driving-on-christmas-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/408058\/","title":{"rendered":"Wales rugby international banned for drink driving on Christmas Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

The former Wales international has been banned from driving for 18 months\"Wales<\/p>\n

Wales rugby international Jonathan Thomas(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Former Ospreys captain and Wales star Jonathan Thomas has been disqualified from driving after admitting to getting behind the wheel while nearly two times over the drink driving limit.<\/p>\n

Haverfordwest magistrates heard on Tuesday, February 3, that Thomas had been stopped by officers while driving his Mercedes CLA 220 through Pembroke town centre on Christmas Day 2025.<\/p>\n

Breathalyser tests showed Thomas, 43, had 62 mcg of alcohol in his system, nearly twice the legal limit of 35.<\/p>\n

Thomas, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to the charge.<\/p>\n

He was disqualified from driving for 18 months, although that could be shortened should he undertake a drink-drive rehabilitation course.<\/p>\n

The former Wales back row was also fined \u00a3120 and ordered to pay \u00a385 in costs, as well a \u00a348 court surcharge.<\/p>\n

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Thomas had recently left his position as Swansea<\/a> RFC head coach before the offence, a decision largely due to ongoing health concerns.<\/p>\n

He was forced to end his playing career in 2015 on medical advice after being diagnosed with epilepsy, and is one of 390 players currently participating in a concussion lawsuit against the sport\u2019s authorities.<\/p>\n

“Long-standing issues linked to the head trauma have caused me some concern recently and it has been impossible for me to give the role everything it needs,” Thomas told the BBC <\/a>when leaving the Super Rygbi Cymru side.<\/p>\n

“Although it is heartbreaking for me to have to step away, my focus has to be on my personal health in the short term and concentrating on getting a better understanding of the issues, and the right support to move forward.<\/p>\n

“My absolute priority right now is myself and my family.”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Jonathan Thomas has been banned from driving for 18 months(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Thomas started his senior career with Swansea, and became club captain at the age of just 19.<\/p>\n

He would go on to join the Ospreys<\/a>, where he would win four league titles and an Anglo-Welsh Cup during a 10-year stint.<\/p>\n

Shortly after turning 21, Thomas would become the region’s youngest ever captain, and he was still their joint highest appearance holder when he left in 2013, having racked up 188 outings.<\/p>\n

Thomas later joined English side Worcester, where he would again be named captain.<\/p>\n

At international level, he played for Wales all through the age groups and at Sevens level.<\/p>\n

He made his senior debut for his country against Australia in 2003, and also appeared at the 2007 World Cup.<\/p>\n

Between 2004 and 2011, he was included in every Six Nations<\/a> squad, including the Grand Slam-winning sides of 2005 and 2008.<\/p>\n

In total, he won 67 caps for his country.<\/p>\n

After retiring he would go on to hold coaching roles at Bristol, Worcester and under Warren Gatland’s Wales set-up<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The former Wales international has been banned from driving for 18 months Wales rugby international Jonathan Thomas(Image: Getty…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":408059,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[120199,5903,101,56,54,55,9015],"class_list":["post-408058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-jonathan-thomas","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wales-rugby-team"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}