London, Sep 15 (AFP) Former Wales and British and Irish Lions rugby captain Gareth Thomas has told the BBC that he is HIV positive.

In a documentary to be broadcast on Wednesday, the 45-year-old, who came out as gay in 2009, explains how in 2018 he felt like dying.

"When I first found out that I was going to have to live with HIV, the first thing I thought was straight away: I was going to die," he said.

"It's not like I blame people for not knowing this.

"This is a subject that because of the 1980s scenarios people don't talk about it because that's the only information they have."

Thomas says the condition has little impact on his day-to-day life given the advances in medicine other than taking a single pill every day and visiting the hospital for blood tests every six months.

Thomas made his Test debut for Wales in 1995 and went on to win 100 caps as well as three for the Lions in 2005. (AFP)

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