It has been a year unlike any other for Gareth Thomas. The one and only captain of Celtic Warriors before their demise last May joined Toulouse in the summer, only for his transfer to be disputed by the Welsh Rugby Union. As well as wanting compensation, the WRU did not want to lose one of its best players to France.

So Thomas was not the only one who was surprised when he was named last month as the successor to Colin Charvis as the captain of Wales, a notion which even a couple of years ago would have been greeted by guffaws. Alfie, as he is known to his team-mates, has the reputation of being a joker, not quite an arch-clown in the mould of Paul Gascoigne but a player whose exuberance has not dimmed with age.

Yet Thomas, who made his debut for Wales at the fag end of the amateur era in the 1995 World Cup, is no maverick. His body may be plastered with tattoos, he may have incurred the wrath of the 1999 World Cup organisers by revealing a T-shirt which proclaimed the innocence of Charvis, who had been cited and banned for throwing a punch in a previous match, and he may have exhausted the patience of the erstwhile Wales coach Graham Henry, but a common strand has run through his whole career: a burning desire to play for his country, which has helped him to bounce back from numerous setbacks.

This year Thomas, Wales's record try scorer who has played on the wing, in the centre and at full-back, was asked whether he would prefer to captain his country or be chosen by the Lions for next year's tour to New Zealand. Without a moment's hesitation he plumped for the former.

"I regard playing for Wales as the ultimate," he said. "To captain the side would be the rarest of privileges. I am not thinking about the Lions because the tour is such a long way away, but in my own mind I cannot see anything surpassing the feeling I get every time I pull on the Wales jersey."

Thomas is back in Wales this week for the opening day of the Heineken Cup, with Toulouse visiting Llanelli Scarlets on Friday. They remain one of the few French clubs who place paramount importance on the tournament, anxious to make up for their defeat to Wasps in last season's final.

"There is a real buzz around the club with Europe about to start," he said. "It is ironic for me that our first game is in Wales, but at least I have been able to give the coaches some information about the Scarlets.

"We had them watched recently when they lost at home to Connacht and I told those in charge not to take much notice of that result because it was not the real Llanelli. They have a proud record in the Heineken Cup and we are going to have to be at our best to get a result."

Toulouse are smarting this week after losing 26-22 to Clermont - the former Montferrand - last Saturday when Thomas watched his Wales colleague Stephen Jones kick his side to a surprise victory.

"We were terrible," he said. "It was our worst display of the season. [Llanelli's coach] Gareth Jenkins was watching from the stand and he will not have learned that much about us. I just hope it is not raining on Friday evening because I am not sure which Toulouse would turn up."

Thomas had decided to move to Toulouse even before the Warriors were disbanded early this summer. The owner Leighton Samuel had agreed a transfer fee with the French club, but when he sold his stake to the WRU, which promptly closed down the side, all the players became free agents. That did not stop the union trying to get £100,000 for Thomas and threatening to withhold his registration until it was paid.

Toulouse, who duly got their man for nothing, exacted a measure of revenge this month by threatening not to release Thomas for Wales's international against South Africa on November 6, his first match as captain, claiming that the fixture was not on the International Rugby Board's original list of autumn internationals.

"As a player, you do not get involved in arguments between club and country," Thomas said. "It is unfair to force someone to make a choice and you just have to wait for disputes to be settled. Nobody has told me that I will not be available for Wales against South Africa, but Toulouse have a big league match against Stade Français that day and I can understand where they are coming from."

Thomas is a totally different character from Charvis, his predecessor as Wales captain, though the two are close friends. Outgoing and ebullient, Thomas was chosen by the national coach Mike Ruddock because of his popularity within the squad and his leadership experience with Wales and the Warriors.

"It was a shock," he said. "I rang Colin straight away, not just because he is a good mate but to tell him how important a player he remained. I am delighted he has agreed to be vice-captain, and this is a big season for Wales. We have made strides in recent years and I firmly believe that this is the strongest squad I have been involved with. We have to start delivering."

First of all, there is the Heineken Cup. "I am delighted I moved to Toulouse," he said. "The place, the people and the rugby are all more than I could have hoped for. It was the right time in my career to go because at 30 you start to appreciate things more. It has been an incredible year for me and I could not be happier."

France's British imports

Stephen Jones

Wales's fly-half was the target of Leicester but opted to move to Clermont, formerly Montferrand, and will play in the Parker Pen Cup.

Paul Volley

After helping Wasps to their domestic and European double last spring the flanker continued to be ignored by Clive Woodward for the summer tour down under and moved to Castres.

Mark Denney

The centre had been a mainstay at Wasps but has joined Paul Volley at Castres. May face Neath-Swansea Ospreys this weekend.

Dan Luger

The much-travelled and much injured England wing left Harlequins last year and has rediscovered some of the form at Perpignan that deserted him during the World Cup.