The 33-year-old, who led his country to the 2005 Grand Slam and twice captained the Lions against New Zealand, has been appointed ahead of Stephen Jones.

Coach Gareth Jenkins last season nominated Jones as the man to captain Wales into the World Cup - but the Llanelli fly-half has been hampered in recent weeks by a groin injury.

Jones will miss Wales' World Cup warm-up Tests against Argentina and France.

Jenkins explained: "Gareth Thomas has the captaincy credentials to take us where we need to go and his influence on and off the pitch is there for all to see.

"Myself, Stephen and Gareth have had long discussions on the subject and identified that Stephen's injury means he is not going to have the opportunity to influence the build-up to the World Cup in the manner in which we would have wished him to do so.

"I have picked my captain based on the need to have a skipper who can fully influence the squad from today. Gareth is fully fit and raring to go and we are lucky to have someone of his calibre to call upon.

"Stephen's injury means that this is the right decision. He has expressed his own concerns about fulfilling the role knowing he won't be able to play in our next two games - matches that will be extremely important to our World Cup bid.

"He remains a vital part of this squad and his contribution, along with the rest of the leadership group, will be as invaluable as ever."

In addition to Thomas and Jones, Jenkins' leadership group is made up of Michael Owen, who has also captained Wales, Alun-Wyn Jones, Jonathan Thomas and Dwayne Peel.