The 30-year-old full-back insists there is more to come from the Welsh side as he and vice-captain Michael Owen accepted the RBS 6 Nations trophy from Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

Thomas, who missed the last two matches of the campaign after damaging his thumb
when Wales secured victory over France in Paris, said: ''You have seen good bits and bad bits of this side but nothing can compare with the emotion of winning this Slam.''

He added: ''Now it's over with as far as we are concerned. It takes a great team to win the Grand Slam but it takes an even better team to defend it.

''We have a great belief in the side but we don't want to just live on this forever. This team is capable of better things and we cannot relax.''

Thomas has a busy month before turning his thoughts back to international duty.

His club Toulouse face French rivals Stade Francais in the European Cup final at Murrayfield on May 22, then he is flying to New Zealand with the British & Irish Lions.

Thomas insists Sir Clive Woodward's Lions will do well to emulate the fighting spirit shown by the Welsh, especially in that colossal second-half effort against France when, without him and trailing at half-time, they won 24-18.

He added: ''I realised how good this squad was then as the rest of the guys knew what they had to do at half time and did it.''

The two-hour celebration in Cardiff featured highlights from all the matches which led Wales to their first Grand Slam in 27 years and, following the clips, the stars of the team told the crowd their experiences.

But there was one special slot allocated to the man who guided Wales to their achievement, head coach Mike Ruddock.

Ruddock received a standing ovation and he saluted the Wales fans, including the 40,000 people who travelled to Edinburgh to witness the victory against Scotland.

Ruddock said: ''We had three hard away games and every time we have played away, it seems like we were home with the all the red jerseys.

''The team have been wonderful and to see them playing good rugby is great. The coaches have been brilliant but, for the fans, it has been a great Six Nations.

''I feel a very proud Welshman and we are all very proud of our team.

''There were so many highlights including Gavin's (Henson) kick against England. And you talk about Martyn Williams' tries against France and Gethin's (Jenkins) try against Ireland.

''But the whole atmosphere after winning the Grand Slam was magnificent.''