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 populat ...

) is a former Welsh

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who played outside centre for

Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms Park. Originally formed in 1876, from 2003 to 2021 the first team was known as the Cardiff Blues before rebranding back ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. He played club rugby for

London Welsh London Welsh Rugby Football Club () 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 seasons, after gaining promotion from ...

and then

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

, before joining

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 Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

in 2001.

Early life

Shanklin was born in

and grew up in

Tenby Tenby () is a seaside town and community (Wales), community in the county of Pembrokeshire, Wales. It lies within Carmarthen Bay. Notable features include of sandy beaches and the Pembrokeshire Coast Path, the 13th-century Tenby Town Walls, me ...

and

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, where he attended both

Ysgol Greenhill School Ysgol Greenhill School is a secondary school in the coastal town of Tenby, Pembrokeshire. With approximately 1200 pupils on roll, it is one of the largest secondary schools in Wales. History The school was originally a grammar school and was sit ...

and Howard of Effingham School.

Wales

Shanklin made his debut in the

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Six Nations, branded as Guinness M6N) is an annual international rugby union competition by the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is the oldest sports tournament conte ...

against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

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 is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and a spectacular try against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. He was sometimes played as a

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

, 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 eccentricity ...

. 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 Mao ...

, 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 national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

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 Sir Thomas Gerald Reames Davies (born 7 February 1945) is a Welsh former rugby union wing who played international rugby for Wales between 1966 and 1978 and was selected for two British Lions tours. He is one of a small group of Welsh players ...

and

Gareth Edwards Gareth Edwards may refer to: *Gareth Edwards (Berkshire cricketer) (born 1973), English cricketer *Gareth Edwards (filmmaker) (born 1975), British filmmaker *Gareth Edwards (producer) (born 1965), British radio and television writer and producer *Ga ...

) 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.

Media career

Since 2016, Shanklin has co-presented the podcast ''Flats and Shanks'' with his former Saracens flatmate, David Flatman. He is a regular contributor to the

BBC Cymru Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, ...

rugby show Scrum V. In 2019 he appeared as himself in a Six Nations special edition of the BBC One Wales comedy series

Tourist Trap A tourist trap is an establishment (or group of establishments) created or re-purposed with the aim of attracting tourists and their money. Tourist traps typically provide overpriced services, entertainment, food, souvenirs, and other product ...

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 the London Borough of Harrow People from Harrow, London Rugby union wings Saracens F.C. players Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby union players 2003 Rugby World Cup players 2007 Rugby World Cup players