You are one of a number of former London Irish Mini and Youth players who went on to achieve International representative honours. What are your earliest memories of London Irish, the mini festivals, tours and the best away club?

I started playing at London Irish when I was four years old. My earliest memories would be going back to being five or six. At that age it was not so much the rugby but just messing around with friends. After training sessions on a Sunday, we would then spend hours on the mound behind the first team pitch searching for balls that had been lost from the pros kicking practice. The London Irish mini festival sticks in memory as one of the best; it was always good fun having teams come over from Ireland and all over the country. My dad was heavily involved in organising this growing up so it was always a big day within the Smallbone household. Throughout my mini and junior rugby days our fiercest rivals were Richmond; it was always good fun playing against them and as I got older many of the Richmond players would become friends through representative teams and the academy. Outside of that, the Dublin tour at under 12s was a real highlight; it was great to get my first taste of touring and what was to come for a few years after.

Who were the coaches that influenced you and what was it about them that inspired you?

I was fortunate when coming through the mini and youth set up to have a few really dedicated and committed coaches. Mike Deasy who I think still referees games at Sunbury and Chris Beard definitely had a strong impact on my formative years playing rugby. Additionally, I was lucky to have a brother who was three years my senior and would often muck in with his team’s training. I ended up learning a lot from John Flynn, as well as a number of the older players in that team. Once I got selected for the EPDG academy obviously Neal Hatley was hugely influential as a fellow prop.

You were selected for London Irish EPDG at aged 14. Who were your contemporaries then?

I started in the academy alongside Anthony Watson who I grew up playing with from about 8 years old. It was great to both turn professional together and then play alongside each other at junior international level for England U16, U18 and U20. Also with us in the academy was David Sisi who played with me at both U18 and U20 and is now a regular in the Italy national side. The path to that level was well trodden by some of the lads in the academy a few years above such as Ant’s brother Marcus, Jonathan Joseph and Alex Corbisiero.

Whilst in the academy you were selected England at Under 20 and were part of the squad that won the Junior world Championship in 2013. Tell us about your experience in that tournament?

The tournament has to go down as one of my best memories from my career. I had an unfortunate start to my first season as a professional with an injury that kept me out for about 6 or 7 months. However, I managed to get fit for the last couple of months of the season and was lucky enough to get myself on the radar of the England selectors who needed to have a tight head prop. I remember getting the call on a golf day and struggling to keep my nerve on the next hole. It was a brilliant experience being able to take part in a tournament playing against and meeting guys from all over the world. The game that stands out in my mind is the semi-final against the junior all blacks. I started on the bench but got on for the last 20 minutes or so and managed to sneak over from a pick and go for a try late on that help clinch the game. Looking at the guys I played with and against in that tournament now you see the names littering the England team and other international teams. Watson, Slade, Nowell and Savea to name a few.

Your career was cut short by an unfortunate shoulder injury, does it prevent you from ever playing again or would you consider a run out with the Wild Geese?

Unfortunately, the shoulder injury means I cannot play rugby again and I enjoyed playing for the Geese on a couple of occasions during my career. I think for the sake of my shoulders I will have to watch from the side lines and enjoy a pint or two.

I now stay involved in rugby through volunteering with a rugby charity, The Three Pillars Project. The project helps young people in the criminal justice system forge brighter futures through using rugby and other sports to provide mentoring and the support network to reintegrate into and thrive in society.

It will be great. once the pandemic has cleared. to get back down to Hazelwood to watch one of the Geese matches and catch up with some of the stalwarts of the team like Sean Cunningham and Scott Moore.

What laws would you consider changing to make rugby more open and safer?

I think one the biggest issues facing the game is the injuries caused in the contact area. Critically I think rather than large scale law changes it is important to ensure that the correct technique for the contact area is encouraged and coached. I think the law changes around techniques used at the tackle and breakdown will go a long way to preventing some of the injuries we see. That said, rugby is a contact sport and physical confrontation is an important part of the game, so I don’t want to see the laws changed to the detriment of physicality.

Finally what are you doing now?

I'm an Associate Director at mixed use property developer Godwin Developments. I was fortunate to be able to complete my undergraduate degree while playing professionally and since retiring have just finished off my MBA. I have always been interested in property since I started playing rugby. Fortunately it seems that there are a lot of rugby people in the industry which is good for me.

With the injuries I had in my career I was able to focus on my studies and try to develop myself away from rugby. This has now proven to be very worthwhile since my retirement.

Mini rugby is played on Sunday mornings at 10am at Hazelwood the home of London Irish. If you are inspired by Tom's story and want to get involved you can find all the information you need in the Mini section, Membership and Contact details of the website.

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