“We have been interested in Lee Thomas for a while now, as he is very well known to my Head Coach, Kingsley Jones. He has captained Wales at every age group through to U21. He is still young but we believe he has the potential to develop in to a top Premiership player. He is a fantastic kicker who will provide cover for Charlie Hodgson, essential with the departure of Valentin Courrent to Toulouse at the end of this season. He is equally adept of fly half or inside centre where he will give us a kicking option from 12 which is something we don’t have right now.”
Commenting on the move, Thomas said: “It will be a wrench to leave the Blues but I am a young and very ambitious player. The opportunity to join Sale and to learn from the likes of Charlie Hodgson was too good an opportunity to turn down. I believe my game already offers something new to Sale, and am certain that under the coaching of Philippe St Andre and Kingsley Jones that my game will come on leaps and bounds.”
Thomas was a member of the Cardiff RFC youth side before joining Pontypridd RFC in 2002, then the Celtic Warriors before returning to the Arms Park side in 2004 where he has played 13 times for the Blues this season.
Cardiff Blues Chief Executive Robert Norster said: “Lee has been a great asset to the Blues over the past few years. Lee has been involved with both Cardiff RFC and the Cardiff Blues for a good number of years for such a young man and we will be sad to see him go. However we would like to wish him the best of luck in pursuing his rugby career across the border.”
Thomas added “I have enjoyed my time with the Blues, they are a great bunch of boys and I hope to stay good friends with them. I would like to thank everyone involved with the club for all their help over the years, the fans have been great to me also and I hope to see them again if we meet in the Anglo-Welsh or Heineken Cup”.
Turning to John Bryant, Saint Andre said: “John is well known to us and will fit extremely well in to our side. He has that rare ability to break the defensive line with power and pace, and at 28 still has his best years ahead of him.
Bryant himself said: “Once I knew Sale Sharks were interested in me, it was a very easy decision to make. I want to play rugby at the top level, and Sale Sharks are very much a club on the up both in the Premiership and in Europe. I will be very disappointed if I am not winning major honours with Sale during my time there.”
