 Palmer in 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Thomas Phillip Palmer (1979-03-27)27 March 1979 (age 46) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Height | 2 m (6 ft 7 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 118 kg (18 st 8 lb)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Boroughmuir High School Otago Boys' High School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | University of Leeds | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Tom Palmer (born 27 March 1979 inHarringay,London)[2] is a former Englishrugby union player. His position is alock
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He started playing mini rugby at age five with Barnet. Aged six he moved toEdinburgh,Scotland with his family, where he played forBoroughmuir RFC minis andBoroughmuir High School until he was 16. After hisHighers, Palmer deferred his place at theUniversity of Leeds for a year while he went toNew Zealand. He spent 18 months atOtago Boys' High School, where he played forNew Zealand Schoolboys before returning to theUnited Kingdom to start a degree course inPhysics at theUniversity of Leeds.
He joinedLeeds Tykes in 1997 and played for the U19's during his first year at university. He also won selection for the Scotland U19 and U21 sides.[3] He then studied part-time when he was drafted into the first team squad in September 1998. He became the Tykes' firstEngland international and the club's second longest serving player afterMike Shelley.
Palmer made his debut againstBlackheath on 2 September 1998, making a total of 10 appearances for the Tykes during his first season when they finished in 6th place inNational Division 2. Palmer became a regular first team player during the1999-00 National Division One, missing only 4 games throughout the season. The most notable game for Palmer was againstWorcester in November 1999 when he scored his first try in the 20–9 win atHeadingley.[4]
In the2000–01 National Division One the Tykes finished top ofDivision 1. Palmer again played an important role in the side, making a total 20 appearances and scoring 8 tries. In theTetley's Bitter Cup competition in October, Palmer was one of nine try scorers who helped the Tykes to a magnificent 100–0 win overMorley.
In the Tykes' first season in thePremiership, the2001–02 Zurich Premiership. Palmer began in his now regular central role, making 15 appearances, however during a game betweenEngland Saxons andWales A Palmer broke his leg.[5] The injury meant that the loss againstNorthampton Saints in March was the last game he featured in during the season.
Palmer became one of four players to have played 100 games for the Tykes, he also became the club's youngest captain and collected aPowergen Cup winners medal, the final of which he started.[6]
Palmer joinedLondon Wasps afterLeeds Tykes were relegated from the2005–06 Guinness Premiership,[7] overall, he made 188 appearances at Leeds between 1998 and 2006 scoring 20 tries. At Wasps he quickly became first choice lock, winning the2006–07 Heineken Cup[8] and the2007–08 Guinness Premiership.[9] Palmer signed forStade Français in the summer of 2009.[10] On 13 February 2012, Palmer returned toLondon Wasps from France on a two-year deal for the next season.[11]
On 28 March 2014 it was announced that Palmer would joinGloucester Rugby at the end of the season.[12] On 2 June 2015, Palmer joined Italy regionBenetton Treviso in thePro12 from the 2015–16 season.[13]
On 27 September 2016, Palmer signed as a medical joker for French clubBordeaux Begles in theTop 14 for the rest of the 2016–17 season.[14]
He earned a place in theEngland Saxons squad whilst still playing inNational Division One and was then rewarded with a place on theEngland Summer tour to North America in 2001.[15] After appearing in the midweek sides, he won his first senior cap as a replacement forSteve Borthwick in the final 10 minutes of England's victory over theUnited States inSan Francisco on 16 June 2001.[16]
Palmer was back to full fitness for the start of the2002–03 Zurich Premiership and did not miss a game for the Tykes during the entire Zurich Premiership campaign. In the summer of 2003 he was selected forEngland's summer tour to New Zealand and Australia[17] and then joined up with the squad for the2003 Churchill Cup inCanada,[18] only to pick up a serious knee injury that took six months to put right. In March 2004, he was vice captain toMike Catt in the England Saxons side narrowly defeated 22–26 byFrance A.[19]
After playing in the2007 Six Nations Championship, Palmer made the training squad for the2007 Rugby World Cup.[20] He did not make thefinal 30-man squad.[21]
He played forEngland Saxons as they defeated theIreland Wolfhounds on 1 February 2008.[22] In the summer of 2010, Palmer started as England defeatedAustralia inSydney.[23] He played forEngland in the2011 Rugby World Cup.
