Gatland replaces caretaker coach Nigel Davies, who was in charge for Saturday’s 34-12 reversal to world champions South Africa in Cardiff, next week.

And Wales number eight Thomas has pleaded with the country to be patient with Gatland as he builds towards the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

“I hope Warren Gatland is given the time over the next four years to bring a level of consistency to our game,” he said. 

“He has got an outstanding track record and I think all the players will look forward to working with him.

“I’m sure the players will buy into what style of play he wants. There is no doubt that some of the sides he has worked with in the past have been hugely powerful sides like Wasps and Waikato, and I’m sure that will be different when he comes.

“It will be interesting to see what he brings to the game. As players it’s a difficult one.

“He is going to come over with new ideas and we are uncertain about out futures ourselves.

“We don’t know whether as players he is going to like us. We have to go back to our regions and play well and hopefully see what comes during the Six Nations.”

On Wales’ five tries to two defeat to South Africa Thomas said: “I thought the attitude of the boys was excellent.

“The disappointing thing from our point of view was that we weren’t clinical. We had our fair share of possession, and probably had more than they did, but we lacked that clinical edge which the best teams in the world have at the moment.

“The second half in particular, we had a huge amount of possession, but they made four breaks and finished it off. We have to get that clinical edge into our game.”

Thomas believed the error count was the reason Wales are struggling to compete against the better nations.

“Two years ago when we won the Grand Slam we were a very clinical side but it’s something we have just lacked over the last six months,” added Thomas.

“It may be an experience thing. As players we need to adopt a level of concentration and hard edge so we don’t make these mistakes.”