Sam Tomkins

To be honest I had never heard of him until he was selected to play for the Barbarians.
He is making his union debut today against one of the top sides in the world that's a big ask in itself.
Will he end up being a penalty machine by forgetting to release the ball when tackled or will he prove to be so elusive that union players wont get hold of him ?.
As I said I don't know much about him apart from bits I seen on Youtube but personally I don't think he has the pace to be a union winger and his lack of pace and build will probably see him get smashed very early in the game.
I do wish him the best but I believe that his selection is more to do with trying to get league bums on seats rather than the welfare of the player.

Already a thread on this.

https://www.606v2.com/t18916-sam-tomkins-to-start-for-the-baa-baas

He actually does have really good pace. Maybe not in the elite class but certainly as fast as a lot of Union wingers.

He's very quick, very elusive and it's a Baa Baa's game so it's unlikely penalty calls for infringment etc are going to be penalised as quickly. He's normally very safe under the high ball, but looked a bit suspect under pressure against Australia in the RL final last weekend.

League players are very tough so even if he does get smashed I think he'll be ok.

I'm still shocked that people (even those who don't follow league) haven't heard of this lad!

Yes, it's mainly about money, but that's what the Baa Baa's is these days!

Hmm not an experiment that worked. More Barry-John Mather or Andy Farrell than Jason Robinson

He wasn't great, but he scored a try in a truly awful, awful performance from the Barbarians side.

The sooner that out-dated shambles is laid to rest the better.

He was far from the worst player on the pitch. He played better than a number of WC winners.

Given he started playing the game (and Barbarians training is hardly the most thorough) less than a week ago and was being shown how to present for a ruck in the pre-match warm-up, I think the young lad did OK.

I thought he was far from the worst player out there. A bit rough on him to have to mark Ioane as well. Turner would have been the kinder assignment of the two.

Whats the ploy here, is he about to sign for a union club or was this a one off opportunity?

I thought he did really well. Looked for space whenever he could get it, should have been found by Freuan for a try in the first half. He went into rucks with no idea, but he went in. He looks like a special sportsman with all the right physical and mental attributes. Hope he comes to Union and he will do really well, but he'll be a star in League if he doesn't. Shame on Kaino and Adam Thomson though who put no effort in.

maestegmafia wrote:Whats the ploy here, is he about to sign for a union club or was this a one off opportunity?

His brother joel has signed for Sarries. Sam has signed a new contract with Wigan. This was just a one-off as far as I know. Though, he may have got a taste for it, especially with the try!

milky

agree with you
what sort of rugby fan hasn;t heard of Tomkins?
I find it quite baffling