Tomos George Llewellyn Shanklin (born 24 November 1979 in

Harrow, London Harrow () is a large town in Greater London, England, and serves as the principal settlement of the London Borough of Harrow. Lying about north-west of Charing Cross and south of Watford, the entire town including its localities had a popula ...

) is a former Welsh

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 it ...

player who played

outside centre In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

for Cardiff Blues and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. He played club rugby for

London Welsh London Welsh Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Cymry Llundain) was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seaso ...

and then Saracens, before joining Cardiff Blues in 2003. The son of Jim Shanklin, who won four caps for

, Tom played for Wales at under-19, under-21 and A-team levels and made his first international appearance for the senior side against Japan in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

in 2001.

Early life

Shanklin was born in

grew up in

Tenby Tenby ( cy, Dinbych-y-pysgod, lit=fortlet of the fish) is both a walled seaside town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, on the western side of Carmarthen Bay, and a local government community. Notable features include of sandy beaches and the Pembroke ...

and Surrey, where he attended both Ysgol Greenhill School and Howard of Effingham School.

Wales

Shanklin made his debut in the Six Nations Championship against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in 2001; 32 years previously his father, Jim, had won his first international cap against the same opponents. At first Shanklin was regarded as a "super sub" in the Welsh side, but later established himself in the starting line-up. He produced some notable performances in the 2004 Autumn internationals, scoring eight tries in the four games. This included four tries against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

and a spectacular try against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

- although his contribution was minimal and he benefitted from a lucky bounce. He was sometimes played as a

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is e ...

, but started all the 2005 Six Nations matches in his preferred position at

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

. He was selected for the

2005 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand In 2005, the British & Irish Lions rugby union team toured New Zealand for the first time since 1993, playing seven matches against first and second division teams from the National Provincial Championship, one match against the New Zealand Ma ...

, but suffered a knee injury early in the tour which meant that he had to be replaced. As a result, he also missed the majority of the 2005–06 season. On 21 April 2009, Shanklin was named as a member of the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

for the 2009 tour to South Africa. But on 7 May it was announced that he would miss the tour because he required reconstructive surgery on his shoulder that would keep him out for 16 weeks. Shanklin won 70 caps for Wales (56 starts and 14 appearances as a substitute). He scored 20 tries, placing him 5th-equal (with

Gerald Davies Thomas Gerald Reames Davies CBE DL (born 7 February 1945 in Llansaint) is a Welsh former rugby union wing who played international rugby for Wales between 1966 and 1978. He is one of a small group of Welsh players to have won three Grand Sla ...

and

Gareth Edwards Sir Gareth Owen Edwards CBE (born 12 July 1947) is a Welsh former rugby union player who played scrum-half and has been described by the BBC as "arguably the greatest player ever to don a Welsh jersey". In 2003, in a poll of international ...

) on the list of record try-scorers for Wales. Following a fourth knee operation in February 2011, on 21 April Shanklin announced his immediate retirement from all forms of the game.

References

External links

Cardiff Blues ProfileWales profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shanklin, Tom 1979 births Living people British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Wales Cardiff Rugby players London Welsh RFC players Rugby union centres Rugby union players from Harrow, London Rugby union wings Saracens F.C. players Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby union players