Spotlight on Tom Homer
Wednesday 28 December 2011
London Irish's form in Europe this term can only be described as disappointing. Having lost their two pool openers to Edinburgh and Cardiff in close affairs a trip to Paris saw Toby Booth's side come away with a bonus point win, only for the Exiles to fall shot at the Madejski a week later in the return fixture.
One thing has remained consistent however and that is the kicking of full-back-come-wing Tom Homer. Last week saw the retirement of Jonny Wilkinson, arguably the best goal kicker to grace European rugby, and it appears that Homer too is developing into much the same mould.
Five successful kicks from five attempts saw Homer pass 200 points for the season from 14 matches and the 21-year-old's prolific kicking and versatility make a strong case for selection in Stuart Lancaster's Six Nations Squad.
Having joined the London Irish Academy in July 2008 Homer made a dramatic entrance onto the domestic scene scoring two tries on debut against Saracens in the November of the same year. In 13 appearances in a debut season that included a St Patrick's Party performance that saw the full-back slot eight kicks out of eight in a 32-27 defeat of Northampton Saints Homer amassed 51 points.
This breakthrough season warranted inclusion in England's Under-20 Elite Performance Squad in 2009. Homer was a member of the England U20 team that reached the final of the IRB U20 Junior World Cup in Japan finishing the tournament as England's leading point scorer.
A 2009/10 season that included 78 points in 20 appearances including four Heineken Cup tries Homer was awarded promotion to Irish's first team squad and a second U20 England World Cup selection. Homer became a record-breaker at the tournament becoming the highest individual point scorer in the tournament's history, helping England to the semi-finals.
At only 21-years-old London Irish make no bones about the importance of Homer's goal-kicking to the Exiles.
"Tom is very important to us and he is getting better," said the London Irish director of rugby, Toby Booth. "There is no better goal-kicker in the Premiership than Tom and to land a kick from well inside his own half with something to spare on a cold day makes him special. We have contributed nothing as a club to his technique, which is his own. He is an instinctive kicker and we have just helped with the process.
Understandably Booth is well aware that Homer's kicking alone will not be enough to merit selection come the Six Nations and admits that both the club and Homer himself are working very hard in order to gain the attention of the England coaching staff.
"He knows he has to develop other parts of his game to gain international recognition and he is working on that. With us, he is making it very difficult to leave him out of the side when everyone is fit."
Of Homer's kicking team-mate Topsy Ojo has eluded to the pressure-relieving effect that it has upon the team when it comes to crucial penalties for the Exiles.
"He is very good at the moment, he's just kicking everything to be honest it's great for us as a team because if we get within penalty range you just have to ask him the question, he'll have a go and more often than not he'll get it. He's been on fire this season, he's got the best percentage, top scorer and for us that's great."
It comes as no surprise that Homer has risen to prominence as a result of his kicking given the enjoyment that he gains from it.
"Ever since I was kid I played any sport I could get my hands on to be honest. Kicking; I was just one of those kids who enjoyed kicking the ball between the posts. In the back garden I've got a set of posts as well so ever since I can remember I was kicking a rugby ball really.
It is no secret that the new England Head Coach Stuart Lancaster fully intends to blood a new crop of youngster's in the coming year, promising to build for the future despite his interim role, and where better to start than with inform player's who are topping the points scoring tables like Homer?
With Homer at the age of 21, Saracens' Owen Farrell, 20, and Gloucester wing Charlie Sharples, 22, the future certainly looks bright for English rugby, not dark, dreary and as damned as sceptics of the English game might like us to believe.
