Time to move on - 13.02.04

Wales kick-off their Six Nations campaign against Scotland at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.

But after the World Cup, the performances against England and New Zealand are still the 'talk of the town.'

Thomas though insists that if Wales are to progress on the pitch they must start looking towards the future.

"The World Cup was brilliant and it has given us a lot of confidence and earned us a certain amount of respect again," said the 29-year-old.

"Everyone is still on a high after those two performances against New Zealand and England and we have to take advantage of that, but while we must build on that it is now time to starting moving forward and Saturday's game gives us a perfect opportunity to do that."

Thomas is again named at full back after his World Cup success there with exciting youngsters Rhys Williams and Shane Williams playing on either wing.

And the 72 times capped player is relishing the opportunity of playing with the two speedsters of Welsh rugby.

"I enjoying playing at full back and am really excited about Saturday," said Thomas.

"It's great to have two attacking players either side of me on the wing and it definitely rubs of on me.

"People are quite negative when they look at Shane and Rhys because of their size but you have to be positive and look at their strengths and they have plenty of them.

"Their attacking play is superb and the ability to do things off the cuff is why they are both in the team and it is a huge advantage for us to have."

Thomas will spend the time before Saturday's game working on certain aspects of his play. That is likely to be his kicking and his ability to deal with the high ball.

And the Celtic Warriors captain is expecting the first 20 minutes to be a tough test for him in particular.

"That will be key," he said. "They'll want to put me under pressure and the first 20 minutes will see what type of challenge they are going to be."