Tomas Francis (born 27 April 1992) is a Wales-international

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player who plays at tight head

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

for

Ospreys The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

Club career

Francis signed his first professional contract with

Doncaster Knights Doncaster Rugby Football Club are a rugby union club representing the town of Doncaster, England. The first XV are known as the "Doncaster Knights", and play in the RFU Championship. Being the most promoted side in English history has led to ...

in February 2012 at the age of 19, he was playing for amateur club Malton and Norton RUFC when he signed for the Knights, where he had been playing from the age of 4. Francis signed with London Scottish in 2013 after Doncaster were relegated to National League 1, he made 23 appearances in one season for Scottish before being signed by

Aviva 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 ...

side Exeter Chiefs for the 2014–15 season. He was a replacement as Exeter Chiefs defeated

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. T ...

to be crowned champions of the 2016-17 English Premiership. On 12 January 2021, Francis confirmed his move to Welsh region

in the Pro14 on a three-year deal from the 2021-22 season.

International career

On 20 January 2015,

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 ...

head coach

Warren Gatland Warren David Gatland (born 17 September 1963) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player who is currently in his second spell as the head coach of the Wales national team. As head coach of Wales from 2007 to 2019, he won four Six N ...

said during a press conference that he had a long debate about whether to include Francis in the 34-man squad for the

2015 Six Nations Championship The 2015 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2015 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 16th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union tournament. It was contested b ...

but had decided against it due to current back injuries Francis was carrying. On 9 March 2015, Francis was called up to train with

. On 16 March 2015, Francis was added to the Wales squad prior to the final Six Nations 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 ...

. On 2 June 2015, Francis was selected in Wales 47-man World Cup training squad. On 29 August 2015, Francis made his Wales debut in a 16–10 World Cup warm-up victory over

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 ...

. He was called up as cover for the

2017 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand The British & Irish Lions toured New Zealand during June and July 2017. The Lions, a rugby union team selected from players eligible to represent England, Ireland, Scotland or Wales, played ten matches: against all five New Zealand Super Rugby fr ...

International tries

Personal life

He was educated at both Ampleforth College and

Sedbergh School Sedbergh School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in the town of Sedbergh in Cumbria, in North West England. It comprises a junior school for children aged 4 to 13 and the main school for 13 to 18 year olds. It w ...

. Francis has a degree in Mechanical Engineering which he earned at the University of Leeds. He signed his first professional contract at

while completing his studies. Francis qualifies for Wales through his grandmother, Eirlys Walters, who was born in Abercraf.

References

External links

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Exeter Chiefs ProfileLondon Scottish Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Francis, Tomas 1992 births Living people Alumni of the University of Leeds English people of Welsh descent English rugby union players Exeter Chiefs players London Scottish F.C. players People educated at Ampleforth College Rugby union players from York Rugby union props Wales international rugby union players Doncaster Knights players Ospreys (rugby union) players