Tom Homer (born 1 April 1990) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

former

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 recently played at centre, wing and fullback for

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

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 ...

. He was a member of the Grand Slam winning England U18 side in 2008 and was a member of the England U20 squad in January 2008.

Career

Homer started playing rugby at Andover RFC in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

before moving on to Salisbury RFC in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

. Homer attended Norman Court Preparatory School and then

Milton Abbey School Milton Abbey school is an independent school for day and boarding pupils in the village of Milton Abbas, near Blandford Forum in Dorset, in South West England. It has 224 pupils , in five houses: Athelstan, Damer, Hambro, Hodgkinson and Tregonw ...

in Dorset, where as a flyhalf, he was captain of rugby at both establishments.

England

Homer was a regular for England at under-18 and 20 levels and is the all time leading scorer in the IRB Junior World Championships with 118 points.
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London Irish

On leaving school, Homer signed to

's academy. He signed a professional contract with the club in June 2008, making his debut against

Worcester Warriors Worcester Warriors Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union club, based in Worcester, England, that is currently in Administration (law), administration and which has been suspended and will be relegated from Premiership Rugby, the top ...

and scored his first tries for the club in their victory over

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

on 23 November 2008. (during his debut, the speedy winger made an immediate impact scoring two tries against Saracens as an 18-year-old). He went on to score 51 points in 13 appearances in that season. He continued to be an important member of the London Irish first-team squad over the next two season and in December 2010 he signed a new two-year deal with the Exiles.
/ref> Homer also kicked two penalties in the Exiles' 38–17 win over Worcester on 15 March 2009, and kicked eight from eight (six penalties and two conversions) against

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", ...

on 22 March 2009. At the start of the 2012-13 Premiership campaign Homer stated that he wanted to be known for more than just his kicking and was looking to get more involved and to use the opportunity of the attacking blueprint of coach Brian Smith to do so. Homer cites former

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 ...

centre

Mike Catt Michael John Catt OBE (born 17 September 1971) is a South African-born former rugby union player who played for the England national rugby union team. He played professionally for the clubs London Irish and Bath. He earned 75 international ca ...

as a major influence.

Bath

On 23 January 2015, London Irish announced that Homer would leave the club at the end of the 2014-15 season, on resultant expiry of his contract. On 11 February 2015, Homer officially signed for Bath with immediate effect, following the departure of

Gavin Henson Gavin Lloyd Henson (born 1 February 1982) is a Welsh former professional rugby union player, who played as a fly-half, fullback and inside centre. Between 2000 and 2019 he played for Llanelli, Swansea RFC, the Ospreys, Saracens, Toulon, Ca ...

Bristol Rugby Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 18 ...

Return to London Irish

In July 2020 it was confirmed that Homer has rejoined former club London Irish. In February 2021 it was confirmed that Homer would leave London Irish to join French

Pro D2 Rugby Pro D2, also known as Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was in ...

side

Montauban Montauban (, ; oc, Montalban ) is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department, region of Occitania, Southern France. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, an ...

ahead of the 2021–22 season. However, it was later confirmed he had retired with immediate effect.

References

External links

Bath ProfileLondon Irish profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Homer, Tom 1990 births Living people Bath Rugby players English rugby union players London Irish players People educated at Milton Abbey School Rugby union centres Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from Salisbury Rugby union wings