Henry Thomas got his shot in the dark now he’s ready to shine for Sale

Henry Thomas, as one of the few beacons of light in a dark season for Sale, has been forced to learn his trade on the job – but England’s latest prop idol would have it no other way.
Long since earmarked as a future cornerstone of the England scrum, Thomas, 21, won his first two caps in Argentina this summer – no mean feat after a toothless season for the Sharks.
Standing out in a pack that spent most of the campaign moving backwards cannot be easy, but Thomas has been on England’s radar since his starring role in the 2011 Junior World Championship where he scrummed down with Mako Vunipola, Joe Launchbury and Matt Kvesic.
Some serious injuries, including one elongated knee problem, hampered his development but Thomas has not been afforded the luxury of easing himself into the first-team.
Dan Cole cut his teeth at Bedford while studying Martin Castrogiovanni and Julian White in the Leicester first team but it is Thomas’ raw talent that has him so highly rated.
Always singled out for his intelligence and understanding of the game, Thomas is slowly but surely adding the power to his game – and he is determined to avoid any more backward steps.
“I want to prove to Stuart Lancaster I deserve to be in the squad and that I can do a job for him,” said new England Saxons selection Thomas.
“Obviously the big picture is 2015 but for me it’s about the here and now. Playing for England comes down to my Sale form. I’m happy to be in the Saxons squad and it’s up to me to push now playing for Sale and perform week-in, week-out.
“When you’re on the sidelines, watching the game you get frustrated and it’s hard watching your team lose and we’ve been doing that quite a lot in the last 12 months.
“But I want to be playing every week improving my game to try and push my way in and make an impact.
“Looking ahead, opportunities like having a World Cup in your home country don’t come around often. It’ll be a special time.”
If Thomas is to usurp Cole as England’s first-choice tighthead, the Sharks will need to ensure they are not languishing around the foot of the table.
Last summer was turbulent, on the pitch, in the dressing room, the board room and the dugout but despite a few comings and goings, Thomas and Co appear far more settled ahead of the new season.
The end to last campaign also breeds optimism – the Sharks won five of their last six home matches to pull clear of danger and even managed their only away victory of the season – a crunch clash with London Welsh.
And Thomas believes a top-six finish would see both he and the Sharks realise their ambitions.
“That’s the big aim but we’ve got to start well and I feel we’re in a good position at the moment,” he added.
“Our role is always to concentrate on the rugby and the off the field stuff is out of our control.  But everyone prefers it when it’s a bit more stable and you can build relationships with coaches better.
“We definitely take encouragement and confidence from the second half of last season and that’s where we should be – it’s where we should have been at the start of the season as well.
“Credit to the guys as we did turn it around and we were in a real tough place and there were some dark times around December when we were losing a lot of games.”
JOHN McDOUGALL