Tompkins happy to be curse of the Prem

WALES centre Nick Tompkins is revelling in the news his opponents have been cursing him in the English Premiership.

Tompkins has been in fine form for Saracens this season, adding a real physicality to his ball-playing skills that has made him a nightmare to play against.

TV pundit David Flatman recently branded Tompkins “ridiculously effective”, telling a revealing story from earlier this season of how hard opponents find facing the tenacious midfielder.

Tompkins has gone on to be a key figure in Wales’ last two matches, starting both after being drafted in as a late replacement for Josh Adams against Fiji.

He is a man somewhat revitalised after a mediocre year with the Dragons and Wales last season.

Asked about Flatman’s comments, he said: “The players know what they are talking about and it’s really pleasing to see.

“I’m not a massive guy and it’s nice to see that I can carry and contribute in that way.

“It’s probably a misconception that I am (just) a ball player.

“It’s really nice to hear and shows that I am doing something right! Long may it continue.”

Tompkins could be in line to start a third consecutive Wales international against Australia this weekend, either at 12 or 13.

He started at inside centre against South Africa but was deployed further out in the backline against Fiji after being dramatically called into the starting line-up minutes before kick-off after Adams was injured in the warm-up.

“I have been in those situations before, so it is not too mental. In the morning Josh Adams mentioned to me he was feeling his Achilles a bit, so I had a little bit of a heads-up,” he revealed.

“It was after the warm-up and I had my other shirt, 23, on ready to go and I had to swap it pretty quickly. You don’t really have time to think about it so you get on with it. It was one of those.”

Wayne Pivac has started eight different centres for Wales in his 21 games at the helm. With no real obvious idea who his first-choice pair are, there have been several different combinations and there will still be shirts up for grabs for the Six Nations campaign.

“It has been pretty tough with the changes trying to form partnerships and stuff but that’s the beauty of the challenge in getting to play with these different players. It is definitely up for grabs,” he said.

“We want to find out who is the best and put forward the best team for Wales.

“It’s good now to give Wayne those kinds of options and hopefully by the Six Nations he has what he considers is a settled centre partnership.

“Other centres have come in and played pretty well. There is a lot of competition there, really. We all need to take our opportunities, I am trying to. Hopefully we can give Wayne some positive continuity in that sense.

“You want to see every combination you can, and who takes it the best.”

On playing different positions, he added: “I don’t have a preference, it definitely differs for centres in different systems.

“At Sarries at 12 I am ball carrying a lot more, maybe off set piece, and handling more.

“Here it differs slightly, you are either carrying or not. Against South Africa we had a lot of moves where I wasn’t carrying, and you have to adapt to the situations.

“At 13 against Fiji I got a lot more touches than I might have done at 12 in terms of passing and ball playing.

“It varies massively in different systems. Here at 13, you have to be very good at moving the ball, shifting the point of contact, getting people involved, spotting the space and kick chases.”

Tompkins also picked out former Dragons team-mate Taine Basham for special praise after being impressed by the back-rower’s improvement since his loan at the Welsh region last season

“I have been hugely impressed, he is one of the players who has come on in leaps and bounds.

“I obviously knew that he was pretty decent and that he was an unbelievably good raw talent.

“He would always go to the ball and was always pretty effective but this time around he has just sharpened everything up.

“He is a lot more disciplined and his ball carrying is fantastic – he is coming on to it every time and his energy is brilliant.”