Dream Team: Nathan Thomas – former Wales, Bath and Llanelli back row

1. Iestyn Thomas – No frills or nonsense, a great player who would consistently get on with his job and lived for scrummaging. He’s got everything you would want from a prop.
2. Trevor Leota – His tackling should come with a warning sign as I found out after developing a massive egg within seconds of a head collision with him.
3. Victor Ubogu – Would add another great ball carrying option. He was so powerful, just in very, very short bursts!
4. Craig Quinnell – The best man at my wedding recently so he has to get in. I also had the fortune of playing with Craig in my school days at Llandovery College.
5. Danny Grewcock – Hard, aggressive with a massive engine and a real appetite for confrontation on the field. A great player and one of the first names on the team sheet.
6. Andy Beattie – A very good player on his day although restricted by injuries at times. Socially, ‘Beastie’ would always be on top of his game though, specialising with a party trick in city centre pyrotechnics.
7. Martyn Williams – I was fortunate to play with the ‘Nugget’ since a young age. Had unbelievable instinct to turn up where the ball was and I can’t remember him having a poor game.
8. Zinzan Brooke – One of the players I idolised growing up as a back rower. He had the complete skillset and could have been a three-quarter and was still a real force at Harlequins.
9. Gareth Cooper – The ‘Grub’ makes the team for his incredible speed at the base of scrums and rucks. But shocking endurance and a McDonalds diet mean John Preston would come on and clean up tactically.
10. Tim Stevenson – Teammate at Hartpury College. Standing delicately graceful at 132kg, it is still a joy seeing the opponents’ faces when  they realise Tim is a fleet-footed, tactically astute goal-kicking outside-half!
11. Va’aiga Tuigamala – A world-class player in both codes who had a real knack of scoring tries against Bath in my earlier days, almost impossible to tackle.
12. Mike Tindall – One of the most competitive blokes I’ve played with. Once thought my life would be cut short when the ‘Lord’ abandoned me late at night in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, with no taxi or address!
13. Jamie Robinson – Good mate at Cardiff Blues, a very smooth operator on and off the field. He loves to tell the story of when he managed to get us both locked up in a cell in Disneyland Paris.
14. Christian Cullen – The best attacking player in the world in his prime. He once scored three tries in 15 minutes when I played against him for Wales. Out of position but still a major threat.
15. Matt Perry – World-class, multi-talented and probably the bravest player I’ve played with. Also enjoys the social side of life, teaching me the wonders of cloudy cider.