[Actors as rugby players] Mickey Rourke to play Gareth Thomas

Rugby could be gaining momentum in movie-making circles.

Wes Clark has a pretty thorough run-down of movies that featured rugby scenes over n his blog.

[He's also got a photo of George Bush jnr playing rugby at college]

Apparently Mickey Rourke is a rugby fan and wants to play Gareth Thomas in a movie about Thomas’ life.

Originally uploaded by gartmor

Thomas came out of the closet, then shortly after he switched to rugby league leaving the Cardiff Blues for the Crusaders in the European Super League.

Personally, I like Thomas. When the Lions tour to NZ in 2007 was ravaged by injury, he stepped up to captain the side. He did all he could at a time in the tour when it seemed the leadership wheels had fallen off as well.

I was at the first match of the tour against the Bay of Plenty when Lawrence Dallaglio was badly injured. It now seems like such a significant moment. At that point in the game, the Lions were supremely dominant. Things were looking very bad for the local side and things were looking up for a great test series.

Unfortunately, the most exciting game was the Lions v NZ Maori.

Anyway, Gareth Thomas came in to captain the side after Brian O’Driscoll was also injured and he offered no excuses and gave an excellent account of himself as a player and a man.

He has my respect.

For his part, Mickey Rourke packs a reasonable punch having been a professional boxer for a short time.

Originally uploaded by nicogenin

And he still has some physique, witnessed in his last 2 movies, The Wrestler and Iron Man II so we’re eagerly awaiting more details on this one.

Rourke did a good job with an Irish accent in ‘A prayer for the dying’ so it will be interesting to see how he goes with a Welsh one in the portrayal of a rugby superstar.