‘We owe a big performance’ – Thomas

Thomas, who was shortlisted for the GKIPA Championship player of the season in 2017/18, has been ruled out since April with a knee injury, but came on as a second-half substitute on Sunday.

And the 24-year-old back-row says he won’t be easing himself back into action.

“I was happy with how last season went, but the injury towards the latter stages wasn’t ideal,” said Thomas.

“I’m here to do a job now. I spoke to Pat a couple of weeks ago and I’m not expecting to have a couple of games to get back into it, I’m returning to perform, not just play and ease myself into it.

“George (Smith), Jake (Heenan), Lammy (Jack Lam) and Sammy Graham are all fighting for the same position and we all have different strengths in our game. We work well together, and the competition is really healthy.”

Thomas says Saturday’s opponents, Zebre, in the opening round of the European Challenge Cup will provide a stern test for Bristol Bears at Ashton Gate, as they look to make an immediate return to winning ways.

“It’s all about us this weekend – if we can get our systems right, and the fundamentals of our game right, we’ll be in a good place,” he said.

“Every competition we play in is important, because we’ve got massive numbers in our squad and it’s good to get everyone playing.

“You never know what 23 is going to be picked each week, so whoever gets picked just adds to that competition in the squad and makes sure that if there are injuries, whoever swaps in is ready to go.

“People pay good money to watch us play at home, so we owe them a performance and we’ll give them one on the weekend.”

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