Top class.

France will pay a special tribute to Gareth Thomas this weekend by wearing rainbow laces in their match against Fiji, after the Wales international was the victim of a homophobic attack.

French Rugby Federation’s vice president Serge Simon on Tuesday said that “all of French Rugby” is with him following the sickening assault.

In a video posted to his Twitter page on Sunday afternoon, Thomas appeared to have a bruised and cut face and said he had been attacked on Saturday night in the Welsh capital.

“This morning I have decided to make what I hope will be a positive video. Last night I was the victim in my home city of a hate crime for my sexuality,” Thomas said on Twitter

“Why I want it to be positive: I want to say thank you to the police, who were involved and allowed me to do restorative justice to the people that did this because I thought they could learn more that way.”

“And also to the people of Cardiff who supported me and helped me because there’s a lot of people out there who want to hurt us. But, unfortunately for them, there’s a lot more who want to help us heal. So this, I hope, will be a positive message.”

Thomas played in France for three years with Toulouse from 2004.