, which was published in 1997
England rugby star Joe Marler grabbed Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones by the balls, prompting Gareth Thomas to crack a brilliant joke.
In hilarious footage English prop Marler can clearly be seen to grab the crotch of Wales legend Jones as the two sides faced off at Twickenham in the Six Nations.
ITV talked about the incident at half-time and Welsh pundit Gareth Thomas - who came out publicly in 2009 - had his say on Marler's antics.
Thomas - a former Wales captain - said: "It would've never have happened in my day and I'm really upset about that - because if it had I would have never retired!"
However, some fans didn't find it funny and the Wales legend was forced to take to Twitter to apologise for the comment.
He wrote: "To the VERY small minority of people who were offended by my comment yesterday I apologise.
"I tried to find humour in a situation-that doesn’t mean I condone it, it means I wanted it to not be an issue.
"So don’t change the narrative to justify how you feel."
Eight Inspiring Gay Rugby Players and Personalities
1. Nigel Owens
There's only one place to start.
In May 2007, Owens publicly came out as gay in an interview with
Wales on Sunday. Reaction was mostly supportive. Owens said that coming out was a difficult decision, and that he had contemplated suicide when he was 26.
Shortly after the 2007 Rugby World Cup, Owens was named 'Gay Sports Personality of the Year' at gay rights group Stonewall's awards ceremony in London.
He has since gone on to referee the Rugby World Cup final in 2015 before becoming the most capped official in Test history.
2. Keegan Hirst
In 2015 he became the first British professional rugby league player to come out as gay.
3. Isadora Cerullo
Following the final of the women's rugby sevens at the 2016 Summer Olympics Cerullo's partner of two years, Marjorie Yuri Enya, walked onto the field at Deodoro Stadium and publicly asked Cerullo to marry her.
The proposal was widely reported in the media, with Cerullo being the first athlete to accept a marriage proposal at the Olympics
4. Mark Bingham
Not a professional but deserves a special mention.
Mark, a gay rugby fan and sportsman, was a passenger on Flight 93 on September 11th, 2001.
Bingham is widely credited with helping prevent further deaths when he helped lead a passenger revolt against hijackers who had seized control of the plane and begun to direct it towards a target in Washington DC.
Rushing the cockpit and risking their own lives, the passengers successfully overthrew the hijackers and managed to bring down the plane in a field.
All 44 people lost their lives aboard Flight 93, but their actions likely saved hundreds more – and Mark Bingham is remembered as one of the many heroes of 9/11.
The Bingham Cup, a biennial international rugby union competition predominantly for gay and bisexual men, was established in 2002 in his memory.
5. Louisa Wall
Wall is a New Zealand Member of Parliament and former national representative netball and rugby union player.
She became famous and bigheaded long before she got into parliament. She was a Silver Fern at 17. She represented New Zealand in rugby. And she hit the headlines when she said she was gay, an unusual admission for a Kiwi rugby hero.
6. Gareth Thomas
Thomas came out as gay in December 2009. The following year he was voted the most influential gay person in the UK in the IoS Pink List and received Stonewall’s Hero of the Year award.
The 43-year-old won 100 caps for Wales during his 16-year career while also representing the Barbarians and the British & Irish Lions.
7. Ian Roberts
In 1995 Roberts became the first high-profile Australian sports person and first rugby footballer in the world to come out to the public as gay.
He was praised for helping to question prevailing myths about gays and sport. Paul Freeman wrote a book on Roberts, Ian Roberts – Finding Out
8. Sam Stanley
England Sevens international Sam Stanley became the first English professional rugby union player to publicly come out as gay in August 2015.
Now 26, the former Saracens back played in five Sevens World Series tournaments for England and belongs to one of the sport's most famous families.
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- Jordie Barrett over Damian de Allende is far from being correct. The hype around Dupont is also overreaching, he's probably 4th in the world and has been since the 2023 WC. He also avoids certain matchups which is strange. The rest of the list is pretty good apart from minor subjective biases.JasonMarlow16-09-2026
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