A Quote by Gareth Thomas

I loved playing rugby so much. I would have played rugby every day if I could have. I loved being a player so much, I don't know if I could sit on the side, with the passion I have and try and influence without being on there.
It is the toughest, most macho of male sports, and with that comes an image. In many ways, it is barbaric, and I could never have come out without first establishing myself and earning respect as a player. Rugby was my passion, my whole life, and I wasn't prepared to risk losing everything I loved.
I knew I was gay at 18, but to come out then would have meant I would not have achieved what I did in rugby. I loved rugby so much and it was so important to me that I made the decision to keep my sexuality secret. People may disagree with that, but it was my belief and my decision.
I know my dad would have loved me to have played rugby. He was a No. 8. I started off playing centre and ended up playing at the back of the scrum, No. 8 as well, just picking it up and running with it.
When the first record came out, I'd go down to radio stations pretty much every day to get the record played, and I would walk in and they'd tell us how much they loved the record, but they weren't sure how much they could play it because they were already playing a girl.
Boxing is the more dangerous activity from the rugby player's and the general public's point of view, but to me rugby is far more dangerous so I would prefer my sons to box. I love my children too much and do not want to watch them getting hurt. This is in no way intended as a criticism of rugby, which I consider to be a fantastic sport.
My dad played rugby, so I used to watch a lot of rugby union and rugby league.
My parents are huge influences on me. My mother was an English teacher. My father played professional rugby and coached rugby for the Irish rugby team.
I was playing like a rugby league player with 14 rugby players.
I played rugby until I was 15, 16 and I eventually had to say, 'No, I have to choose one' and it was obviously going to be football, I miss playing rugby a lot.
I played fly-half in rugby, so I could influence the game, and midfield in hockey too. So it is part of my sporting DNA to want to be in the game at all times, to affect what is going on. That's down to genetics and being ginger, I reckon. We're special specimens.
My loves in life are food, history and rugby. I'd love to be a history professor or a rugby player but I prefer rugby and my career would end by the time I was 30, leaving me enough time to go and study history.
I think day care is terrific. Kids get to be around other kids, and they're playing, and they're teaching each other. When I was in college, my summer job was being a preschool teacher. I loved it, and after that experience, I said I can't wait to put my kid in day care because I could see how much they loved it.
My uncle played rugby, and my dad played football, and they used to argue which game was the roughest - and everybody agreed rugby was. It's a great team sport, and to be successful, every person has to play in the same level.
I come from a country that lives and breathes rugby, and I didn't think there would be anywhere else in the world that could be the same. But New Zealand takes it to another dimension. It's extraordinary how much passion Kiwis have for the game.
I tried sports, but I ended up being a paramedic. There was to be no rugby for me. Believe me, I did try, but I fell short. Rugby is tough, man.
I didn't know music would end up being my job, but I loved it so much I wanted to do it every day.
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