Why Rugby Union Should Not Court Sam Tomkins to Cross Codes

Rugby League star Sam Tomkins was in the news last week when he announced his return to the UK from New Zealand.

The former Wigan man claimed homesickness had caused him to call time prematurely on his contract with the New Zealand Warriors, and he will be back in Blighty in time for the next Super League campaign, per the Guardian.

And a return to his old club looks to be on the cards, according to the newspaper:

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Wigan appears the most likely destination for Tomkins, who could rejoin his brother Joel in the ranks at the DW Stadium. The Wigan chairman Ian Lenagan said this week on the Wigan Today website: “If he became available we would be very interested.

“We’ve got the first option. If it gets to the point where he is available it is in our hands. And I’ll be delighted if that was the case.”

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However, the news has revived the idea that he could be set for a switch of codes altogether.

Tomkins’ brother Joel has already completed a stint in union with moderate success, joining Saracens and playing in the 2013 autumn internationals for England to no great acclaim, before vanishing back to rugby league.

In 2011 Tomkins turned out for the Barbarians, scoring in a heavy defeat to Australia.

And the full-back, now 26, hinted at the beginning of last year that he would "like to try rugby union," per ESPN.co.uk.

That followed a column by none other than Sir Clive Woodward in the Daily Mail, who wrote: "Sam Tomkins was born to play 13 for England and we should never have allowed him to leave the country to play rugby league in New Zealand."

But for players like Tomkins there is a window of opportunity that you have to exploit when it comes to switching codes, and it now feels like his window is shut.

Following the emergence of Jonathan Joseph as a genuine, threatening outside centre, Woodward’s calls for Tomkins to be pursued by England to play in that shirt are nowhere to be heard.

And it seems, if it were to happen, that he would have to be a full-back or wing with his smaller stature.

Indeed, anyone hopeful that Tomkins’ impending return to England could open the door to rugby union for him might think twice after the damning verdict passed down on the England league international by NRL pundits on a magazine programme in Australia hosted by Matthew Johns.

His signing by the New Zealand Warriors was branded a "failure" on the programme in light of his decision to come home and it was decreed that the player was not "robust enough" for the competition Down Under.

That should set alarm bells ringing for union observers who have seen the workload of a full-back in the 15-man game become heavily slanted toward dealing with aerial bombardments while players bear down on them to smash them into next week.

He would also be the last line of defence, a job that even a player as accomplished as Leigh Halfpenny can get wrong in terms of technique, as we saw when he knocked himself out tackling Italy’s Samuela Vunisa during the Six Nations.

Tomkins’ fast feet and eye for a gap are mightily impressive attributes, but in league they can be used on a field with more space and no one in the backfield to defend if he breaks the line.

But space is reduced and defences more populated in union, which would dull the effectiveness of his attacking flair so evident in this highlight reel.

Furthermore, Tomkins would come with high wage expectations and even then he'd have to spend a season adapting and finding his true role in union.

In terms of wings and full-backs involved in the England setup, there is less to teach Anthony Watson, Christian Wade, Jack Nowell, Jonny May or Chris Pennell—and at a lower cost—to enable them to reach the next level of their development.

The alternative of nursing along an expensive convert who, if playing for a club down south may yet still get homesick for Wigan, is not appealing.

If Tomkins was going to switch, his flirtation with the Barbarians before his big money move to New Zealand was his moment.

It was said on ESPN.co.uk that any switch for Tomkins would be with an eye to the 2019 rugby union World Cup.

With that sort of time frame, the Rugby Football Union and its clubs should acknowledge that they are producing plenty of young, promising talents who could mature into a world-class team by then, without the need for Tomkins to jump the queue.