England’s impressive Tom Palmer expresses his desire to become regular member of team – Rugby News
English international Rugby Union footballer and the English lock, Tom Palmer, has expressed his desire to become a permanent member of the team’s starting XV. Palmer made these comments on Thursday, September 15 while talking to reporters.
England defeated Argentina 13 – 9 on Saturday, September 10 at Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin.
It is expected that England’s manager, Martin Johnson, will name Palmer in his starting XV for their weekend match against Georgia. England will take on Georgia this Sunday, September 18 at Dunedin.
Particularly in the absence of the England’s first choice lock, Courtney Lawes, Palmer chances to start the match have increased many fold. Earlier this week, Lawes had been handed a two-week ban for his dangerous tackle on Argentina's Mario Ledesma in England’s
last week match against the Pumas.
Palmer started from the bench in England’s opening 2011 Rugby World Cup (RWC) encounter against Argentina. He took the field during the last 15 minutes of the crunch game, which England eventually won.
Recalling his performance in last weekend’s match against the Pumas, Palmer said, “I came on and went straight into a lineout, took the line-out, had a little carry after that and we ended up scoring off that play.”
Palmer confirmed that he entered the game in a different period. He said that playing only a few minutes of the match does not really help an individual to evaluate his performance.
Commenting on his selection in the Starting XV, Palmer commented that after he was named in England’s final 30-man squad, he was hopeful that he would get a start during the World cup. He added, “I knew right from the start that in this World Cup if I wasn't
starting the first game, there would be the opportunity for me.”
London born Palmer started his professional rugby union career with the National Division 2’s outfit Leeds Tykes, which was later renamed to Leeds Carnegie. He made 188 appearances in different competitions and scored 100 points for them. In 2006, he joined
the Aviva Premiership side London Wasps. He made 40 appearances for Wasps in both domestic and European competition and scored 20 points for them.
The 32-year-old Palmer remained at the Wasps until the end of the 2008/09 season. In the start of the 2009/10 season, he joined the French Top 14 outfit Stade Francais. He made his international debut for England in 2001 against the United States of America.
Palmer so far has played 29 international games, which includes 20 starts and 9 appearances from the bench. He is consistently part of the English squad, which toured Australia and participated in this year’s 2011 Six Nations competition.
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