Tom Croft (born 7 November 1985) is a retired

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 it ...

player. He played 173 games for Leicester Tigers between 2005–17 winning four

Premiership Rugby 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 ...

titles, played 40 times for between 2008–2015, was part of the squad for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, and the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

in 2009 to South Africa and 2013 to Australia. His career was somewhat plagued with a variety of minor and serious injuries.

Background

Born 7 November 1985 in Basingstoke, England, Croft initially went to

Park House School Park House School is a secondary school in Newbury, Berkshire in the United Kingdom. It accepts students aged 11–18 and currently has approximately 1,300 students on roll including a sixth form of around 300. On 1 May 2011, Park House Scho ...

, a comprehensive school in Newbury, Berkshire, before going to

Oakham School (Like runners, they pass on the torch of life) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , president ...

in Rutland where he was in the same year as

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 ...

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

Stuart Broad Stuart may refer to: Names *Stuart (name), a given name and surname (and list of people with the name) Automobile * Stuart (automobile) Places Australia Generally *Stuart Highway, connecting South Australia and the Northern Territory Northe ...

Playing style

Croft's best position was blindside flanker. He was known for his line-out agility and unusual speed for a forward; one of the quickest players in the

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on un ...

squad his coach

Aaron Mauger Aaron Joseph Douglas Mauger (last name pronounced "Major"; born 29 November 1980) is a New Zealand professional rugby union coach and former player. He played at centre for Leicester Tigers. Playing career Born in Christchurch, Mauger played f ...

described him as the " fastest loose forward he had ever seen". After scoring two tries against his Harlequins side in 2008 Dean Richards described Croft as an "outstanding talent" who "has everything", Martin Corry said have never had a player blessed with Croft's abundant abilities.

Club career

Croft's senior debut for Leicester Tigers came against Gloucester in the 2005–06 season, a week after he turned 20. In the following season, which included a Premiership title and the Anglo-Welsh Cup for the Tigers, he made 16 appearances. 2008–09 could be considered Croft's breakthrough season, in which he established himself both in the club side and on the international scene. He was man-of-the-match in the Heineken Cup semi-final against Cardiff Blues, which resulted in a historic sudden death kicking competition. The shoot-out ended before Croft's turn came up as Jordan Crane made the winning kick. Although the Tigers fell at the final hurdle of the Heineken Cup, they won the 2008–09 Guinness Premiership. Croft played lock in both finals, as a result of injury to teammate Louis Deacon. The following season didn't quite match up to the previous for Croft, due in no small part to the two knee injuries he sustained, one after the other in the middle of the season. He worked his way back successfully, however, and featured in another Premiership final victory, this time at blindside flanker. Croft captained the Tigers for the first time on 3 October 2010, against Saracens. Croft suffered two major injuries whilst on club duty. First, in an April 2012 Premiership match against Harlequins Croft mistimed tackle on

Nick Easter Nicholas James Easter (born 15 August 1978) is an English rugby union coach and former player. He played as a Number 8 for Orrell, Harlequins and the England national team. He began his career in 2001, playing for Orrell, before moving t ...

and suffered a triple fracture of his C6 vertebra, a specialist described the injury "as close as you can to being paralysed”, He returned to the Tigers after 8 months injured in January 2013 against

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

. In 2013 Croft played in his third victorious Premiership final. Then, in the 2013–14 Premiership opener against

in September, he suffered a season-ending cruciate ligament injury. In November 2017, Croft announced his immediate retirement from rugby following a new neck injury and consulting a specialist. His final appearance was on 11 March 2017 against Saracens in the semi final of the

Anglo-Welsh Cup The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English clubs ...

, Croft was a substitute as Leicester won 32–10.

International career

Croft was called up to the

squad for the

2008 Six Nations Championship The 2008 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2008 RBS 6 Nations because of sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the ninth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, the 114th series of the international championship. Fifteen ...

. He had already been selected for the

England Saxons England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emer ...

and

England Sevens The England national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series, Rugby World Cup Sevens and the Commonwealth Games. England's best finish in the Sevens Series is second place, which they have achieved four times, most recently i ...

sides. Croft gained his first England cap in the

2008 Six Nations The 2008 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2008 RBS 6 Nations because of sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the ninth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, the 114th series of the international championship. Fifteen ...

win against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in Paris. He was then named in Martin Johnson's squad on 1 June 2008. He gained starting places in the squad at blindside flanker for three games against the

Pacific Islanders Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Oce ...

, and , before being named on the bench against . Croft was awarded man of the match when England defeated 34–10 at

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 ...

in the

2009 Six Nations Championship The 2009 Six Nations Championship, known as the RBS 6 Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 10th Six Nations Championship, and the 115th international championship, an annual rugby union competition contested by the six major European national t ...

. On 20 May 2009, Croft was called up to the squad by coach

Ian McGeechan Sir Ian Robert McGeechan, OBE (born 30 October 1946) is a retired Scottish rugby union player, coach and teacher. Born in Leeds, McGeechan represented Headingley as his only club during a 15-year club career, qualifying for Scotland through h ...

for the Lions 2009 tour of South Africa as a replacement for the banned

Alan Quinlan Alan Quinlan (''Irish: Ailín Ó Caoindealbhain'', born 13 July 1974) is a retired Irish rugby union player. He played for Munster and was registered to All-Ireland League side Shannon. He retired from rugby in May 2011. Early years Quinlan ...

. Croft then subsequently started the first two tests against , and came off the bench in the 3rd test. He scored two tries in the first test defeat – becoming the first Lions forward to score twice against the Springboks. In November 2009, Croft was nominated for the IRB Player of the Year for 2009, though the award went to

Richie McCaw Richard Hugh McCaw (born 31 December 1980) is a retired New Zealand professional rugby union player. He captained the national team, the All Blacks, in 110 out of his 148 test matches, and won two Rugby World Cups. He has won the World Rugb ...

. Despite making the shortlist and having started the first two games of the Autumn Internationals, Croft found himself demoted to the bench for the third test, against . Injury to

Joe Worsley Joseph Paul Richard Worsley, (born 14 June 1977) is a retired English rugby union player who played flanker for Wasps and England. Biography Worsley was born in London and educated at Hitchin Boys' School and Brunel University. He joined ...

saw him take the field within the first five minutes, however. Croft's second knee injury in the 2009–10 season saw him miss out on the 2010 Six Nations entirely, though he regained his starting place from

James Haskell James Andrew Welbon Haskell (born 2 April 1985) is an English former rugby union player who played for Wasps RFC and Northampton Saints in the Aviva Premiership, and internationally for England. In August 2019 he announced he would become a ...

for the Australian summer tour. He switched to openside flanker to cover injured captain

Lewis Moody Lewis Walton Moody MBE (born 12 June 1978 in Ascot) is an English retired rugby union player. He played for Leicester Tigers and Bath Rugby and was part of the 2003 World Cup winning side. Moody is known for the enthusiasm with which he pla ...

halfway through the second half of the first Test, which England lost 27–17. The second Test saw England beat Australia 20–21. This was only the third time that England had managed to beat Australia in Australia. Croft took part in the 2010 Autumn Internationals, starting in both the loss to and the win against , the latter cited by many to have been the best England performance for years. In 2011 he was part of the England team that came within a game of a grand slam. 2012 saw Croft play in every single game of that year's Six Nations, His form continued to improve throughout the Championship and he played a starring role in the game against France which saw him score a wonderful try after a searing burst of pace. The last game against Ireland, saw him make a 50-yard burst which almost brought about a try. Croft was ruled out of the rest of Leicester's season after a neck injury. His first try for came as a replacement for

against . In April 2013, Croft was selected for the

2013 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia The 2013 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia was a rugby union tour during June and July 2013. The British & Irish Lions played ten matches - a three-test series against Australia, and matches against the five Australian Super Rugby sides, a ...

. He started the first test in a 23–21 win over Australia and came off the bench in the 16–15 second test defeat. Croft made his international return two years later during the

2015 Six Nations 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 ...

against Italy and Ireland in his final England appearance.

International Tries

England

British & Irish Lions

References

External links

Leicester profile

RFU profile

England new boys – Tom Croft
{{DEFAULTSORT:Croft, Tom 1985 births Living people British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England England international rugby union players English rugby union players Leicester Tigers players People educated at Oakham School Rugby union flankers Rugby union locks Rugby union players from Basingstoke