Split loyalties for Lions' opponent

The Lions preparations are gathering pace for Friday

Western Australia captain Trefor Thomas will split family loyalties as he leads his side against the Lions in Friday's opening tour match at the WACA.

Thomas, 33, was born in London of Welsh parents and his Swansea-based uncle will be travelling to Perth to watch the game.

Sadly for Thomas his father passed away last year, but both his brothers will also be at the game.

"This is the biggest game in the 11 years I've been involved with Western Australia," Thomas said.

We are expecting 20- to 25,000 which would be a big crowd for us

  Trefor Thomas

"It is a daunting task to say the least and it will certainly be the highlight of my rugby career," he said.

The second row has played twice before against Wales and once against Ireland, but completes a grand slam of the home nations when he comes up against the Lions' Scottish and English contingent.

Rival lock Martin Johnson and - perhaps not surprisingly - fly-half Neil Jenkins are the two players Thomas most wants to get to grips with.

Rugby lags behind Aussie Rules in terms of popularity in Perth, but Thomas was confident the public would come out to cheer his side on.

"We are expecting 20- to 25,000 which would be a big crowd for us.

Valuable advice

"The game is on a Friday night as well so a lot of people will come along straight after work," he explained.

WA are largely an amateur side and are expected to give the Lions a relatively comfortable beginning to the tour.

But they can draw on the experience of Saracens fly-half Duncan McRae and Wallaby front row star Patricio Noriega.

McRae in particular has offered valuable advice to Thomas' side and is no stranger to Martin Johnson having been involved in an incident with him last season which lead to the Leicester captain being banned.

"Duncan believes they will be quite nervous because the new players have a lot of pressure on them going for a Test berth," Thomas said.

But nerves were not confined to the Lions' camp.

"I can tell you that we are as nervous as they are in some respects," the captain said.