Let’s shock the world!
Sam Tomkins admits there can be no excuses this time as England launch their bid for glory
SAM ToMKINS is imagining how he will feel tomorrow afternoon when he leads his country out in the opening match of a home World Cup.
‘ I’ll probably be a little bit emotional,’ the England captain admits to Sportsmail. ‘I’m really proud to be English so, to be able to lead the country out in a sport that has been my love and passion from five years old, it is something really special. It doesn’t get any better than this.’
That is some admission from a player as decorated and experienced as Tomkins, who burst on to the scene as a
19-year-old with five tries on his debut for home club Wigan.
Now 33, he has won three Super League titles and two Challenge Cups, been named Man of Steel twice and played in Australia’s NRL. He even once had a Heinz soup named after him — Beef, Tomkins and onion.
International success, however, has so far eluded one of the greatest English players of his generation. Tomkins was not selected for the last World Cup in 2017, when England lost to Australia in the final, and his only previous experience in the tournament was a semi- final defeat by New Zealand in 2013. It is a wrong he wants to put right.
‘I won’t be playing in the next World Cup. This is my last chance to win the most special trophy,’ says Tomkins, who has recovered from the knee injury which disrupted the second half of his season with Catalans Dragons.
‘It’s an opportunity I don’t want to let pass by. There are no excuses. We are playing at home, we have a great squad, great facilities. For years, we have been the team who come close but don’t quite get there. We want to drop that perception and shock a lot of people.’
It really would be a shock as England are only fourth favourites — behind Australia and New Zealand, who they cannot face until the final, and Samoa, who they play in tomorrow’s curtain raiser at St James’ Park.
‘We might be underdogs but that isn’t a tag we are worried about,’ says Tomkins, who knows there is much more at stake for England than just the Paul Barriere Trophy.
Despite various attempts over the years to grow the game, rugby league has struggled to break out of its northern heartlands, with Tomkins admitting it has become ‘stuck’ and needs a ‘shake-up’. In an apparent admission of just that, Super League and the RFL signed a 12-year deal with global sports agency IMG in May.
But over the next six weeks, Tomkins’ side can do much more for the popularity of the sport than any marketing experts.
‘ There is an extra pressure because if we can be successful, it could inspire generations and be the catalyst for our sport to grow in this country,’ he adds. ‘There would be nothing more important than winning the World Cup for the growth of the game.’
TOMKINS played for the same fabled junior club, Wigan St Patricks, as owen Farrell, who captained England’s rugby union side to the World Cup final in 2019. on a podcast, Tomkins said his fellow Wiganer would be the ‘best player we’ve ever seen’ had he ended up in Super League.
‘If owen switched codes in time for Saturday, he’d certainly help us win a World Cup,’ he laughs.
But Tomkins almost switched codes himself, agreeing to join Saracens with his older brother Joel in 2011, only for his half of the deal to fall through. ‘It would have been interesting to see how I did,’ admits the full-back, who scored a try in a one-off game for the Barbarians rugby union team against Australia in 2011.
‘If I’d gone when I was younger, I would have made a success of it. But it’s not something I lose sleep over. Rather than doing that, I went to play for the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL and experienced another way of life.’
Tomkins spent two seasons in Auckland before returning to Wigan. In both spells at Wigan, he was coached by Shaun Wane — now his boss with England.
‘ We’ve always had a close relationship,’ says Tomkins. ‘The fact he wouldn’t pick me in his academy side when I was 16, I don’t hold it against him.
‘It wasn’t that he didn’t like me. He just thought I wasn’t quite good enough. But that changed a couple of years down the line and he’s never dropped me since.’
Wane proved how highly he regards Tomkins by making him captain, even though he has not always had the best relationship with England fans. During a match at Headingley in 2011, Tomkins was booed by a section of his own supporters every time he touched the ball.
Two months later, he celebrated a try in the Challenge Cup final for Wigan by flicking a V-sign towards the Leeds end at Wembley. Even in the latter stage of his career at Catalans, Tomkins remains a player fans love to hate. Not that it bothers him.
‘Playing the pantomime villain is not something I’ve shied away from,’ he confesses.
‘I’ll never get bored of winding Leeds fans up! But I’d hope every rugby league fan in this country is an England fan now.’
If England are to taste glory, they will have to defy history as well as the odds. No side from these shores has won the World Cup since Great Britain 50 years ago. ‘Well, it’s about time we won it again then,’ says Tomkins.