Tom Voyce
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tom Voyce | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Full name | Thomas Michael Dunstan Voyce | |||
Date of birth | 1981-01-05 | |||
Place of birth | Truro, England | |||
Height | 1.86 m | |||
Weight | 95 kg | |||
Rugby union career | ||||
Position | Fullback, Wing | |||
Professional clubs | ||||
Bath London Wasps |
||||
correct as of 13 Sept 2006. | ||||
National team(s) | Caps | (points) | ||
2001- | England | 9 | (15) | |
correct as of 13 Sept 2006. | ||||
Other Information | ||||
Notable relatives | Thomas Anthony Voyce, great uncle |
Thomas Michael Dunstan Voyce (born 5 January 1981 in Truro) is an English rugby union footballer who plays at wing or fullback for Wasps and England.
He was educated at Penair School. From there he went on to study at King’s College, Taunton. He first showed promise playing mini rugby at Penryn RFC, before going on to play for Truro RFC U15s and U16s. 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 line up.
Tom’s great uncle, Thomas Anthony Voyce, won 24 caps for England, 23 as a flanker and one on the wing during the 1920s and was a member of the first double Grand Slam winning team. He went on to become President of the RFU in 1960-61.
He was selected for England's 2001 tour to North America, where he won his first cap against the USA Eagles.
In 2003 he moved to London, to join Wasps 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. 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. Tom was in the starting line up for the 2004 England summer tour matches against New Zealand in Auckland and Australia in Brisbane.
In 2005 he marked his first Twickenham Test appearance with two tries against Samoa.
Tom was selected for every match of the 2006 Six Nations Championship. Initially selected for the bench in England's opener against Wales, Tom quickly found himself on the pitch replacing injured Josh Lewsey. This injury meant that Tom secured the number 15 jersey for the next game against Italy. 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.