Sunday marked the 50th Ospreys appearance for Trebanos youngster Tiaan Thomas Wheeler. We caught up with the young centre to hear his views on his journey so far.
“I was really honoured to make my 50th appearance for the Ospreys at such a young age on Sunday. I feel I worked really hard to get to this point and to reach that milestone for my home region means a lot to me.
“I’m grateful to everyone who has helped me get here over the years, including my home club of Trebanos who were always so welcoming to me and all the coaches who worked with me throughout and helped me get to this point in my career.
“One of my favourite moments in an Ospreys jersey has to be scoring my first try against Pau out in France. It’s definitely a memorable moment and one of the standout highlights for me.”
Talking about the battle for the centre shirts this season, Thomas Wheeler said:
“Competition for places here has really brought out the best in us. I’ve always said that I’d take competition for places over it being just handed to you and day of the week. I’m a competitive person so thrive on that.
“Having the likes of Michael Collins in and around the environment has really pushed us on. Drawing on the experience he has and being able to tap into his knowledge has really helped to develop us.”
Speaking about playing in front of the home support, the young centre said:
“Playing in front of a crowd makes a massive difference. It’s brilliant to have supporters there and one of the reasons we all play is to play in front of them. Our home support always makes such a big difference and help push us a lot more and we’re all looking forward to being back out there in front of them this weekend.
“Hopefully I can push on and play the best rugby I can and then see what happens from there. If I’m playing my best and able to put my best foot forward then only good things can happen.”