Henry Thomas: "Bath Rugby is my home"

Bath Rugby's Henry Thomas has expressed his happiness at signing a three-year extension to his deal at the club.

Thomas has put pen-to-paper on a deal that lasts until 2020, six years after he joined the club from Sale. 

On Monday, prior to the official announcement, he spoke to the local media and said:

"I've signed on for three years, I'm really excited, especially after the injury as well, the talks started before the (knee) injury.

"(Bath) is the place for me, it's my home, I've loved the last two-and-a-half years so it was a pretty easy choice for me.

"It's easy to see the progression of the team, the way Todd (Blackadder) and Tabs (Matson) are progressing us as a squad. Everyone seems pretty happy and, like I said, it wasn't really a hard choice to make."

Throughout this season he has been ruled out with a knee injury which has meant he has only made six appearances for the Blue, Black and White so far this term, and his season may be over.

"(Rehab) is going really well, as expected really.

"(Doctors) are always quite loose with return dates so I keep bugging the physios but they don't really get back to me so I'm just working hard and my target is to get in the best shape I can.

"It's a pretty big doubt (that he will be back before next season). It's a toss up between really pushing it and then having that risk of doing something bad again for the sake of a couple of games, is it worth it?

"As a player you always have to push as much as you can but (the physios) always have your best interests at heart to get you back out there in the best shape they can so if you breakdown in two weeks it doesn't look good on them, does it?"

Despite the injury, Thomas' ambitions once recovery is complete are high, as he has set his sights on getting back into the England set-up.

"First of all I want to get match fit and to get my knee more stable. Looking further forward, really onto next season, I want to get back playing (and) getting the game time I was getting at the start of this season and getting my levels around that area.

"Then it is trying to get in the England team because I had my goals for the season and the injury just completely wiped them out and you've got to stop and re-evaluate but I'm only 25 and I want to be playing for England and pushing for spots."