FORMER Welsh rugby internationals, Arwel Thomas and Iestyn Thomas, were joined by Dragons’ captain Ashley Smith, to help promote ‘health MoTs’.

The trio of rugby stars were on hand at Candwr Brook pharmacy in Ponthir, to help promote the pharmacy’s new health resource centre which offers a wide range of services including blood pressure and diabetes checks, as part of the national All About Health awareness programme.

It comes in response to a recent poll carried out by allabouthealth.org.uk, which found 50 per cent of Welsh people admitted it would take a major health scare to overhaul their unhealthy lifestyle.

Pharmacist Peter James said: “We want people to take preventative rather than reactive action. A simple health MoT will give us an intial indication of how healthy people actually are.”

Former fly-half Thomas, who won 23 Welsh caps, said: “People get their cars MoT’d regularly but often forget about their own health.

“Men are especially reluctant to talk about health problems but it’s important to be aware of the support available.”