“It was simply lack of concentration on Mika’s part,” Pulli said in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, yesterday.
Laitinen was in a “satisfactory condition” after breaking his left collarbone and seven ribs in a fall in practice on Sunday. His goal-kicking has been good for Bristol – but that’s in front of 7,000 not 50,000 He has quick hands, left and right He tackles extremely well He is very durable. Not only is the rugby better, so is the money.For now, though, Thomas is doing a two-year Higher National Certificate course in leisure management at Filton Technical College; Bristol’s, and therefore Thomas’s, move to full professionalism will come as soon as the Rugby Football Union’s moratorium ends at the end of the season.Meanwhile he will do his best to live up to the Jonathan Davies tag. Already a Welsh Youth international, he went on to represent Wales Under-21 but could not sustain his early progress and was seldom selected for Neath once he had made his decision to join Bristol.”In general the Courage league is of a higher standard than the Heineken League with harder games week-in week-out and in the long run it’s bound to pay off,” he said. “It’s definitely doing me good and giving me a different outlook to be out of Wales.

I’m very confident it will pay off for me in the end.”In fact Thomas has set a trend, with other Welshmen – Jones and Phil Davies for Harlequins and Gareth Llewellyn for Wasps, Robert Howley for Saracens, to name four prominent examples – having registered to play for English clubs. “There’s no doubt Arwel has all the attributes to go all the way but everyone involved has to be very careful not to rush him,” Hanlon said.That Thomas should be under Hanlon’s wing in the West Country reflects a desire to better himself at odds with the familiar introspection which has done so much to damage Welsh rugby during its years of decline. Thomas is a native of Trebanos, the Swansea Valley village also responsible for Robert Jones, who should still be Wales’s scrum-half, and Greg Thomas, an England fast bowler.He made an impact on the Welsh scene with Neath last season, a commanding performance against Swansea earning him attention and acclaim. This would accord perfectly with the projection of his coach at Bristol, the New Zealander Brian Hanlon. It did nothing for Gregor Townsend when he was talked of as a latter-day JD – and he was a Scot, for goodness sake – and though Thomas has made the Welsh squad for the first time he is not allowing himself to be carried away.
For now his realistic ambition to make the Wales bench this season and maybe make the final step next season.

Then Davies went to rugby league and Wales spent years looking for the new Jonathan They may at last have found him in Arwel Thomas. Such hope is, however, a grievous burden to impose on a young outside- half only just 21. When Phil Bennett retired, Wales spent years looking for the new Phil Bennett and eventually found him in Jonathan Davies. If they widen, Adams could be a real handful on the last two days.ENGLAND (v South Africa, Fifth Test, Cape Town, starting today) (from): M A Atherton (capt), A J Stewart, R A Smith, G P Thorpe, G A Hick, R C Russell (wkt), D G Cork, M Watkinson, P J Martin, A R C Fraser, D E Malcolm, R K Illingworth, J E R Gallian.SOUTH AFRICA (from): A C Hudson, G Kirsten, W J Cronje (capt), D J Cullinan, J N Rhodes, J H Kallis, B M McMillan, D J Richardson (wkt), S M Pollock, C R Matthews, A A Donald, P R Adams, N Boje.. Traditionally, the pitches here are low and slow, but Atkinson believes the surface will quicken as the game goes on, the surface providing consistent good bounce and carry.However, this is simply just groundsman-speak for “get out of my hair” and already cracks are breaking out over the business areas.

Cork, along with Peter Martin, is likely to swing the ball here, something that has troubled all the South African batsmen bar Daryll Cullinan.It is a capricious skill, but when it works it can be lethal. So far this season, Meyrick Pringle – whose home ground this is – has taken two six-wicket hauls with his outswingers and South Africa may yet regret not having anyone to bend the ball around through the air.However, they may not need anyone. Yesterday, the home team went to a nearby airforce base to meet President Nelson Mandela, who had made a special stop for the occasion.The last time he made a point of wishing his team well, they won the rugby World Cup but, if Hansie Cronje’s men are in need of some inspiration, then Paul Adams’ presence in front of his home crowd should make the atmosphere hiss with electricity.Over 100,000 tickets have already been sold for this match, and the only worry is that the huge demand from the hordes of visiting England supporters will have denied the occasion the presence of knowledgeable local supporters.The pitch here at Newlands is one relaid by Andy Atkinson, the former Essex and Warwickshire groundsman. Mike Watkinson may yet add to his two England caps, should the niggle prevail.As expected, Devon Malcolm comes in for the injured Mark Ilott, while Angus Fraser returns to the side after being dropped from the third Test in Durban. It will be a valedictory effort, for both bowlers are considered surplus to requirements for the forthcoming one-day series and they, along with Crawley, Ilott and Gallian, return home after this match.That means the 17 players left – along with Fraser, who will presumably be asked to remain on standby at home – will fight it out for the 14 places in England’s World Cup squad, which has to be announced by 22 January.One man sure to be included, unless his legs are worn away by another marathon spell, is Dominic Cork, who has had a hole drilled through a painful big toenail to relieve the pressure on it.

Even so, it will be Robin Smith and not England’s quirky keeper who will shift up the order to grasp the nettle and replace Jason Gallian.With Gough only just fit again, the rest of the bowling almost takes care of itself, although Richard Illingworth, who has a strained left side, will have a fitness test this morning. Firstly, England are no longer pushovers, even if their batting still gives the odd imitation of a wobbly set of bar skittles should the captain fail early on.Secondly, Jack Russell is batting better than ever and with such confidence that England now take his runs for granted. There is, as Raymond Illingworth pointed out, “eighty grand” on this match, but if the money is a temptation worthy of risk, it is exactly that kind of boldness that could yet make 1996 the year of the fifth bowler and set England off on winning ways. To be fair, Illingworth, as chairman of selectors, has long championed the format, being one he nearly always adhered to when captain of England. However, without a genuine all-rounder to bat at No 6, it has been a temptation shelved more often than not, and one long thought to have provided the major bone of contention between Atherton and the chairman at selection meetings.
Two things, however, will have persuaded Atherton to change his pragmatic approach. It appears to have taken a New Year resolution to do it, but England are at last going to play five bowlers.