Sam Tomkins - Representative Career

Representative Career

In the 2008 World Cup, co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, England's campaign ended with a 32–22 loss to New Zealand at the semi-final stage. England responded to their exit from the tournament by replacing a number of veterans with younger players for the 2009 Four Nations. Tomkins, who was then playing at stand-off for Wigan, was included in a new-look squad which featured a quarter of its players aged 21 or below.

In broken play, he is absolutely devastating. If the defensive line is not quite strong enough, he will absolutely rip you to shreds. He is a rising star in rugby league.

“ ” Iestyn Harris, Wales head coach, 18 October 2009.

On 18 October 2009, having played less than thirty games for Wigan, Tomkins made his international debut for Tony Smith's England team against Wales at Brewery Field in a warm-up match for the Four Nations tournament. The then-twenty-year-old scored a hat-trick in a 12–48 victory, with Iestyn Harris, the Welsh head coach and former dual-code rugby international, praising Tomkins' contribution to the winning England team. Despite this, Tomkins was left out of the squad that faced France in the opening Four Nations fixture. He replaced Richie Myler for England's defeat against Australia at Wigan's DW Stadium, with an impressed Darren Lockyer, the Australian captain, stating after the match, "To be honest, we didn’t really know their young fellas. We do now." With Smith showing confidence in the young half-back pairing between Kyle Eastmond, Tomkins maintained his place in the squad which won their must-win match against New Zealand for a place in the tournament final. The hosting England side, playing at Elland Road, Leeds, were overcome by Australia in the closing thirty minutes of the final despite leading 16–14 at one point, although the pairing between Eastmond and Tomkins was, according to Sky Sports, impressive.

Smith resigned as England coach following the Four Nations, with Steve McNamara announced as the team's new head coach. Tomkins kept his place in the England team when they played France in a mid-season friendly, and he responded by scoring four tries on England's way to a 60–6 win, a record-equalling tally for an England player in a single match. Tomkins appeared in all three of England's matches at the 2010 Four Nations, firstly in a defeat to New Zealand where a Kevin Brown try scored from a Tomkins kick was disallowed by the video referee due to Tomkins pushing Greg Eastwood in the process. Another comprehensive defeat to Australia ended England's hopes of reaching the final, in a match where Tomkins made his first international switch from the halves to fullback. He stayed in this position for England's final match against Papua New Guinea, a 36–10 victory in which Tony Clubb equalled Tomkins' four-try record.

Tomkins featured at full-back for the inaugural International Origin in 2011, which England lost thanks to Wigan teammate George Carmont's 79th minute try for the Exiles. Tomkins was booed by England supporters from opposing clubs within the Headingley crowd at Leeds, an incident which was criticised as "disgraceful" by Jamie Peacock, the England captain and Leeds forward, however Wigan head coach Michael Maguire claimed Tomkins had not been affected by the abuse. Following the completion of the rugby league domestic season, Tomkins was included in a pre-Four Nations test against France. In England's opening match of the 2011 Four Nations against Wales, he scored four tries, which for the second time in his international career equalled the record for the most tries by a player representing England. After playing against Australia at Wembley Stadium in a match which England ended the losing side, Tomkins scored a try against New Zealand. England's victory over the Kiwis meant that for the second time in three years, Tomkins featured for England in a Four Nations final against Australia, although they ended runners-up to Australia after losing 8–30. Playing fullback, Tomkins had an unhappy night under the high ball at Elland Road. A week after the final, he played at right wing and scored a try for the Barbarians, a British-based invitational rugby union side, against the Australian Wallabies, although the Barbarians lost 11–60. The match was Tomkins's first match of professional rugby union; Tomkins admitted that prior to training with the Barbarians he did not know what numbers were allocated to which position in rugby union. On his first experience of the sport, Tomkins was quoted by the BBC as saying, "I am glad I have had the chance to play but I am still a rugby league player."