WALES captain Gareth Thomas is benefiting from being out of his native country - and not just for the rugby experience of playing for French club giants Toulouse.

Thomas has spent almost a lifetime playing in the goldfish bowl of Welsh rugby, gaining the vast majority of his 80 caps in that time.

But now he is out of the ever present limelight by playing his domestic rugby in the South of France, and he believes it is benefiting him in his role as Wales skipper.

"Now that I'm in France I'm missing out on all the hype. In the Autumn internationals everyone expected us to do well, they build us up so big here then they shoot us down," he said on a flying visit back to Wales for this week's pre-Six Nations training camp.

Sporting a black eye and six stitches after a blow playing for Toulouse in the hotbed of Perpignan, Thomas said, "It's great to get away from it all. Now we've got to remember we're going into a tournament, not just one game but five. And we mustn't believe all the hype."

But Thomas still insists if the team can find that little bit extra they can do really well in the Six Nations.

"The next step is to cope with the expectations," he admitted. "We have achieved a tag as contenders, the next step is to cope with expectations. It's the smallest step but it's also the hardest part.

"We've got to learn to believe more, before going into a game as well."

Thomas says one of the most talked about things in rugby in France is the improvement Wales have made. "When I went back after the New Zealand game everyone, including the physios and doctors, were all asking me about Wales," he said.

"They had a real respect for Wales again and thought all the guys were amazing players. They said we deserved to win against New Zealand and they said the game was superb to watch.

"It wasn't just the players saying that either, but older guys like medical staff which made me feel really proud."