British and Irish Lions

Less than a fortnight ago Thomas feared his World Cup was over after he suffered rib cartilage damage in a late tackle from Stirling Mortlock during Wales' 32-20 defeat to Australia.

Even when scans proved the injury was not as bad as first expected, there was only thought to be an outside chance Thomas would be fit to face the Fijians.

But he has been in full contact training this week and replaces Kevin Morgan at full-back to bring up a century of Test caps in a must-win encounter for Wales.

At stake is a place in the World Cup quarter-finals and head coach Gareth Jenkins said: "No side would want to go into a game of this magnitude without its captain, it's as simple as that.

"Gareth's importance to this team cannot be understated, he's reached an historic landmark but no-one will be more focused than him on match day.

"His stature and composure on the rugby field will be invaluable to us in a game that could offer us such high rewards.

"We are within touching distance of a place in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals, we need to respect what Fiji offer and maintain our focus and our professionalism throughout and there is no reason why we cannot come away with a win."

The British & Irish Lions will dust themselves down after losing their unbeaten record to the Brumbies and be back at work in a positive frame of mind from Wednesday, according to 2009 Test full back Rob Kearney.

With Tuesday's trip to Canberra next on the agenda for The British & Irish Lions, we take a look back at their last clash with the Brumbies, a match that went right down to the wire.

The British & Irish Lions went to the home of one of the two schools that played fixtures against them on the inaugural tour in 1888 this week, Sydney Grammar School.