January 01, 2004

Tommy is still an honorary Scot

Posted by Editor on January 1, 2004 11:47 AM | One comment | Print | E-mail author

Tommy Hayes is proving to be a big hit at Worcester
Tommy Hayes is determined to repay Worcester for saving his professional career by kicking them to England's Zurich Premiership.

Tommy feared that his days on rugby's big stage were over when he failed to secure a new contract with Glasgow last summer, but he is enjoying his rugby more than ever and is determined to finish the job he has started so impressively at Sixways Stadium.

Thanks in no small measure to Tommy's remarkable strike-rate, Worcester lead the promotion race in the first division of the English National League by three points from Orrell, their main challengers. Another former Glasgow man, Ben Daly, is also proving to be a big favourite with the Sixways faithful.

Worcester are unbeaten in 13 of their matches so far with Tommy contributing two tries, 46 conversions and 17 penalties for a points total of 153. Tommy admitted: "It looked dodgy for me when I couldn't sort out matters with Glasgow, but life is fantastic here. The club are really ambitious and I am determined to play my part in their quest to reach the Zurich Premiership. I hope I would be part of their plans for next season if that happened. Playing at that level, against the likes of Jonny Wilkinson, is a mouth-watering prospect."

Tommy holds the record number of appearances for Glasgow and was a popular figure in city's rugby scene. He said: "I had a fantastic few years in Glasgow, both with the Hawks and then the pro team, and I wouldn't have swapped the experience for anything. I will always consider myself an honorary Scot, but rugby is what I live for and I believe the future for me can be exciting."

Tommy thinks Ben Hinshelwood - who Glasgow has talks with over the summer - is ready to take over as Scotland's first-choice full-back from Glenn Metcalfe, who departed the international scene in the wake of the World Cup. "Ben would be the ideal guy to slot into that position," said Tommy. "He is a fine all-round backline player who has already had a decent taste of the Test scene."

Comments
Posted by Gordon on January 1, 2004 04:00 PM | Reply to this comment

Great to see Tommy doing so well at Worcester. According to the Worcester fans he's become a very important and popular player with them.

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