Centre Ben Thomas is keen to take the positives from Wales loss to Fiji in their opening match of the Autumn Nations Series.

He highlighted the attack as working well before the injury to Cardiff teammate Mason Grady, which resulted in a reshuffling of the backline and a loss of fluency.

With Wales back in action against Australia on Sunday, it gives Wales the opportunity to bounce back quickly from the result and ‘right some wrongs.’

“We had some pretty honest reviews on Tuesday,” said Thomas. “I think we’re probably past the disappointment stage, and we’re just looking forward to right some wrongs on the weekend.

“There was a lot of good in that game, so I think it was right for us to highlight the parts where we were going well and we probably made some steps forward from the games in the summer.

“Obviously there were probably four or five crucial moments where we either let Fiji off the hook or gave them a few cheap, easy ins.

“Mason going off probably derailed us a bit more than we imagined it would have, because I think our wingers play quite an important role in our phase attack.

“That was something we had to adjust to and probably struggled to for a little bit. I think that first 20 was pretty much everything we spoke about pre-game went to plan and we played heads up rugby.

“It was probably a different second half. Fiji kept the ball for a lot longer and our possessions were few and far between.

“That probably lent itself to us maybe forcing a few things second half and maybe going a bit off script, but for probably 80% of that game we were in a good place in attack.”

Thomas is a regular at inside centre for the Blue and Blacks, but made his first start for Wales in the position against Fiji.

He admitted that having current and former teammates around him in the backline made the transition easier.

“It felt pretty comfortable, especially having a fairly familiar backline.

“I played with Max plenty of times and then obviously Gareth and Tomos both being ex-Cardiff players, that definitely helped the transition a little bit.

“I think that probably helps from playing together in the past. I think we can play to each other’s strengths and help each other get into the game in different ways.

“Whether that’s Max carrying, being a bit more of a direct ball carrier for us, and then me helping him out in those situations, then it’s a good thing for us.”

The 25-year-old is still fresh to the international scene, having made just four appearances for Wales, but is enjoying the challenge of playing against some of the world’s best.

“I’ve loved playing international rugby. The summer was probably different to the weekend where it was a bit more or a different pressure in the summer playing ten.

“It’s the chance to test yourself against the best players in the world, and we had a decent start to that last week.

“We came up against some decent players on that back line, so it’s been a really enjoyable process so far.

After the loss on the weekend, Thomas says getting a positive result against Australia is now the focus rather than the performance.

“The focus for us is definitely on getting results,” he added. “The weekend was one that we definitely let slip and it was a tough one to take, but I think the focus going into this week is the result.

“Performances are nice, but it’s definitely a result that we’re chasing.

“We’ve had a good look at Australia and they had a good win on the weekend.

“It’ll probably be a bit of a different challenge to what we faced in the summer. They’ve got pretty much a new backline, so it’ll be a new challenge, but one we’re pretty well versed in facing.”