Thomas Michael Dunstan Voyce (born 5 January 1981) is a former English rugby union player who played at

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

or fullback. He previously played for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Voyce married Anna Wood in September 2015.

Biography

Born 5 January 1981 in

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its ...

, Cornwall. Voyce's great uncle, Anthony Thomas Voyce, won 27 caps for

, while playing for

Gloucester Rugby Gloucester Rugby are a professional rugby union club based in the West Country city of Gloucester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby, as well as in the European Rugby Champions Cup. The club was formed i ...

, during the 1920s and was a member of the first double

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

winning team. He went on to become President of the

RFU The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It pro ...

in 1960–61. Voyce was educated at Penair School, Truro and then studied at

King's College, Taunton (Strong and faithful) , established = 1880 , closed = , type = Independent day and boarding , religious_affiliation = Church of England , president = , head_label ...

. Outside the rugby field, Voyce is an Ambassador of the

Wooden Spoon Society Wooden Spoon is the children’s charity of rugby. It supports children and young people with disabilities or living in disadvantage in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Since 1983, Wooden Spoon has committed more than £29 million to more than 1,3 ...

Career

He first showed promise playing mini rugby at

Penryn RFC Penyrn RFC is a Cornish rugby union club based in the town of Penryn, and is the oldest club side in the county having been formed in 1872. The club currently has 2 senior men's teams (the seconds are known as the Saracens) as well as a ladies ...

in his native

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, before going on to play for

Truro RFC Truro RFC is a Cornish rugby union club that is based in the city of Truro and was formed in 1885. The club's colours are blue and yellow and they operate 2 senior men's teams, a women's team, a colts side and various mini/junior teams (ages 7� ...

U15s and U16s.

Bath 1997–2003

Having left Cornwall at 16, he eventually joined Bath where he worked his way through the club's lower sides and into the

Zurich Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

line up. At the same time he established himself in the England Under 21 side. He was selected for

's 2001 tour to North America, where he won his first cap against the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Wasps 2003–2009

In 2003 he moved to London, to join

Wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. ...

for the 2003–04 season and quickly established himself as a first team regular. He played in 34 of his club's 35 matches that season, scoring 15 tries in the process. At the end of the season Wasps won the Premiership final against his former club Bath. He also helped Wasps win the Heineken Cup that season. In November 2004 he scored the quickest try in Premiership history when he gathered a loose ball from kick off and crossed by the posts in 9.63 seconds against Harlequins, beating Martin Corry's record by 14 seconds. Voyce was in the starting line up for the 2004

summer tour matches against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in Auckland and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in Brisbane. He helped Wasps win their third consecutive Premiership title in 2005, this time scoring a try in the final against Leicester. In 2005 he marked his first

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

appearance with two tries against

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

. Voyce was selected for every match of the 2006

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...

. Initially selected for the bench in England's opener against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, Voyce quickly found himself on the pitch replacing injured

Josh Lewsey Owen Joshua Lewsey MBE (born 30 November 1976) is an English former rugby union player who represented England and the British and Irish Lions. Lewsey is a former British Army Officer. Background and early life Lewsey was born in Bromley, Lo ...

, also scoring a try in the process. This injury meant that Voyce secured the number 15 jersey for the next game against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. However, Lewsey was soon fit again in time for the 3rd game, which meant that Voyce was once again relegated to the bench. After losing two games in a row, changes were made to the England squad meaning England regular Lewsey was dropped, opening up the fullback position for Voyce to start against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Later that year, he played his last international to date against Australia, in Sydney. His performance in such game was – according to himself – quite poor, and this might have jeopardised his international career. Voyce won his second Heineken Cup with Wasps in 2007. However injury ruled him out of Wasps' victory in the 2007–08 Premiership final.

Gloucester 2009–2012

In March 2009, it was announced that he would join

from the 2009–10 season. April 2012, departure from Gloucester announced.

London Welsh 2012–2013

In October 2012, he joined

London Welsh London Welsh Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Cymry Llundain) was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons, ...

. On 16 May 2013, it was announced Tom Voyce would retire from all forms of rugby with immediate effect.

Post-rugby career

Tom Voyce now works at Investec Bank Plc.

References

External links

Gloucester Rugby profileWasps profile

England profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Voyce, Tom 1981 births Living people Bath Rugby players Cornish rugby union players England international rugby union players English rugby union players Gloucester Rugby players London Welsh RFC players People educated at King's College, Taunton Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from Truro Rugby union wings Wasps RFC players