Invariably, Thomas was at the heart of the moves which led to the majority of the scores.
Playing like one of the old dapper stand-offs of rugby league in the Sixties, bringing the huge forwards on to him before releasing a runner on his inside or out, he was the catalyst for a victory which means the All Whites are now eight points clear at the top of the table and firmly on course for a third title.And if they can maintain this form against Ebbw Vale in the Swalec Cup quarter-final next month then the double could be within their grasp.But as well as winning trophies for his club, Thomas is determined to gain more caps for his country after his up-and-down Five Nations campaign this season. He orchestrated the game for the Premier Division leaders in such a way that they were able to plunder nine tries against a side only three places below them in the table. This season the “Trebanos Terror” has had his ups and downs, but this was certainly one of the better performances from the Swansea stand-off. ARWEL THOMAS is used to being in the news. Anybody who wears the No 10 jersey for Wales has to suffer the attention of a nation in a way that no other rugby player has to deal with.
The left-wing sprinted over and, astonishingly, Richmond led 30-3.Newcastle were awarded a penalty try in the 70th minute and got another through Tony Underwood but they could hardly be described as consolation scores.Richmond: M Pini; S Brown, J Wright, E Va’a (M Deane, 35), D Chapman; A Davies, A Moore; D McFarland, B Williams, J Davies (D Crompton, 69), C Quinnell (A Codling, 74), C Gillies, B Clarke (capt), S Quinnell, R Hutton (R Martin, 64).Newcastle: S Legg; J Naylor, V Tuigamala (M Shaw, 35), A Tait, T Underwood (J Wilkinson, 79); R Andrew, G Armstrong; N Popplewell, R Nesdale, P Van- Zandvliet, G Archer, D Weir, P Lam, D Ryan (capt), R Arnold (P Walton, 64).Referee: E Morrison (Bristol). John Kingston, the Richmond coach, said he would look at the video today before deciding on his course of action. Such was the lack of drama over the incident that the crowd weren’t sure what had happened.Within seconds, Scott’s brother almost went off in sympathy. Craig Quinnell knocked over Pat Lamb and received merely a ticking off He could not have reacted better had it been a pep talk.
On the stroke of half-time, big Craig, taking a pass on the short side after Newcastle had once again lost possession, blasted his way through four defenders. It had smash and grab written all over it and it typified Richmond’s determination.The London club, who led 22-3 at half-time, did not yield an inch in the second half Indeed, they increased their lead. After Davies had kicked a penalty, the former Wales stand-off smartly gained a rebound from Armstrong, who failed to cleanly gather a high kick from Moore and fed an inside pass to Dominic Chapman. The culprit, himself, held his hands up after a word from Morrison and ran off the pitch with no complaint. Afterwards, Quinnell claimed that he had raised his knee after being punched.