Thomas looking to build

Haydn Thomas has thanked his Exeter Chiefs team-mates for helping him make his England debut – and hopes to get another chance to shine in the future.

The scrum-half appeared off the bench for the final half-hour of England's 40-12 win against the Barbarians in Sunday's non-cap international.

Thomas was involved in that match as cover for Northampton's Lee Dickson, who played in the Aviva Premiership final against Leicester the day before.

With the 30-year-old not part of England's summer tour to South America, he will have to bide his time for another call-up. But Thomas hopes he can impress if given the chance.

"It's recognition for the (Exeter) squad as a whole," he said of his selection against the Baa-Baas. "I rely on the team playing well to give me opportunities. With how well we've done over the last four years, I can't thank the squad enough. They have helped me get in the (England) setup."

He added: "You've just got to keep working hard at your game and just hope you can do enough to be given another opportunity. If given an opportunity, hopefully you can take it and put your best foot forward."

Thomas was not the only Exeter player in action at Twickenham on Sunday as Tom Johnson played the full 80 minutes while Dean Mumm was a replacement for the Barbarians. The Aussie lock will now start against the British & Irish Lions in Hong Kong this weekend.

Former Gloucester player Thomas, who is in his third stint with the Chiefs, was involved in the build-up to England's game against the Baa-Baas last year but was not named in the matchday squad.

He was delighted to make it onto the pitch this time, and said it was a day to remember for the Chiefs as a whole.

Thomas said: "It was fantastic to come off the bench and get that amount of time. I couldn't have asked for any more really. I knew what I'd missed out on last year. To go one step better this year made it even better and it was a special day for me.

"It was a special day for the club. It shows what a fantastic club we've got here and how it's moving forward. Hopefully there'll be more days like that to follow in the future."

Thomas and his team-mates are due to return to pre-season training on June 19 so the University of Exeter graduate is taking a bit of time off before getting stuck back in.

And he is already looking forward to the next campaign, hoping the Chiefs can build on their sixth-placed finish in the Premiership from last term as well as making a mark in the Heineken Cup.

"It's nice when the season finishes but once you've finished you want to get started again," he said. "I'll have a bit of a break now then get back into it and keep myself ticking over to get the body ready for another season.

"It will be nice to get playing again with a great club and a great set of guys and look to achieve something, whether that's the LV, Heineken Cup or Premiership – or hopefully all three.

"Hopefully we can achieve something and have a better season than we have this year. It's been fantastic this year, again, but we want to look to get better and keep moving on."