The Interview | Nick Tompkins
WHEN NICK TOMPKINS REACHED A CENTURY OF GAMES FOR HIS BOYHOOD CLUB SARACENS HE CELEBRATED IN STYLE WITH A TRY HAT-TRICK IN THE SPACE OF 28 MINUTES IN A PREMIERSHIP SEMI-FINAL AGAINST GLOUCESTER.
Wow! That was back in 2019, seven years on from his four minute debut off the bench in a 38-21 LV Cup win against Leicester Tigers. It was some performance after coming on as a replacement for the injured skipper Brad Barritt.
Tompkins came onto the field in the 27th minute with his side leading 8-7 having been rocked by a third minute try for the Cherry & Whites by England No 8 Ben Morgan. The ‘Men in Black’ went on to win at a canter, 44-18, with Tompkins scoring his three tries in a brilliant, match-defining quarter-of-an hour burst as he crossed in the 42nd, 50th and 56th minutes.
More of the same today as he celebrates his 200th game at the same venue, would be more than welcome and would give his many fans the perfect early Christmas gift. You would have thought that day might have been the stand-out moment in his 12 year stint in the first-team, but it isn’t.
That special moment is reserved for the Premiership final of 2023, when Saracens won the title for the sixth time with a 35-25 triumph over Sale Sharks. What made that game extra special for the Welsh international centre was that he started and finished the match.
“I picked up a Premiership winners’ medal in 2019 and a Champions Cup medal in the same year, but I was a half-time replacement at Twickenham in the win over Exeter Chiefs and didn’t get a minute in the European victory over Leinster in Newcastle,” said Tompkins.
“That’s why I felt so good after the 2023 final. I started for the first time, played the full 80 minutes and finally felt I had contributed – that was a special feeling.”
Having joined Saracens in his early teens as a flanker, Tompkins switched to centre as he graduated through the academy. He can not only look back on 12 years of senior rugby, but also almost six years of growing up at the club before that.
Things have never come easily to him given the level of competition he has had to face to get a game. He has played in an era of great midfield operators
at the club – Brad Barritt, Marcello Bosh, Chris
Wyles, Duncan Taylor, Alex Lozowski and Owen Farrell.
Given the quality of his rivals the fact he will be joining the ‘200 Club’ is a tribute to his own very high standards both on and off the field.
“It has been great to have been able to play with so many great players during my time at Saracens. They certainly didn’t make it easy for more, but they taught me so much,” said Tompkins.
“Brad and Marcello were brilliant for me and I very quickly realised that if I wasn’t good enough, I wasn’t going to play. When I wasn’t getting regular game time I had to have some tough conversations with myself.
“I realised the fact I wasn’t playing was down to me - I had to work harder and get better. So many people have helped me to reach 200 appearances for this great club and it is a real honour every time I pull on the shirt.”
As well as the medals he has won playing for Sarries, Tompkins has been able to add 38 senior Welsh caps to his collection of 17 games for England U20 and two for England Saxons. It’s amazing what having a Welsh grandmother and playing well for one of the top clubs in Europe can do for you!
But honours apart, the 29-year-old points to the strong sense of ‘family’ throughout his time with the ‘Men in Black’ that has driven him on. The memories of the many away bonding trips remain vivid in his mind, with the one to St Anton in Austria the stand-out – “après ski without the skiing!”
He admits to having to pinch himself at the prospect of joining the list of players who have made 200 or more appearances for Saracens – Alex Goode, Kris Chesney, Jackson Wray, Jamie George, Brad Barritt, Chris Wyles, Richard Wigglesworth and Owen Farrell.
That is a great list to be a part of, but he doesn’t want to stop there. Hopes are very much alive in both the Premiership and Champions Cup this season and he would like nothing better than to go deeper and deeper into both tournaments.
