By The Saracens
July 31 2023

This is the first of a couple of short pieces to welcome our new signings for 2023/24.  This time we are concentrating on our 3 Toms: Tom Willis, Tom Parton and Tom West 

TOM WILLIS

Tom Willis is the younger brother of Jack, now at Toulouse. Both Jack and Tom played for Wasps until October last year when Wasps’ demise led to the brothers being made redundant. Both brothers headed across the channel, Jack to Toulouse while Tom joined French Top 14 club Bordeaux Begles (his inside knowledge will be very useful later this season) reaching the semi-finals of the French domestic competition this season. Tom is a No 8, a position in which Sarries lack depth (with the notable exception of Billy Vunipola of course) so his presence at the club will be welcomed. It was also suggested his arrival could see Billy’s departure from Sarries although that turned out not to be the case. Tom has represented England at Under 20 level (where he was also captain) but although he has been included in the World Cup training squad (along with brother Jack), he has yet to make his full international debut.

Tom was well coached by the PR team: on joining the Men in Black he said "I’m incredibly excited to be joining Saracens, It is a great club with a fantastic playing and coaching group and I’m looking forward to being a part of it next season.” Mark McCall was equally positive about his new forward: We are delighted to be welcoming Tom to Saracens. He is a player that we have admired for a long time and we are confident that he will be a huge success here over the coming years.”

TOM PARTON

Our 2^nd Tom, 25 year old Tom Parton, joins Sarries from London Irish (although the signing was agreed before the sad demise of the Exiles). Tom P was signed by Oirish in 2018 at the age of 20. Like Tom Willis, he represented England Under 20’s. Tom is a full-back with great pace and a nose for the try-line but sadly his career has been hit by injury. He sustained a knee injury (ACL)which kept him on the sidelines for many months back in 2018/19. He missed the first few months in 2022 with a hamstring injury and has been absent for much of the last season, only appearing 4 times but still managed over 70 appearances for Irish during his time with the club. He too knew what to say on joining Sarries: “To be joining a club like Saracens is an honour and privilege. To learn from the best players in the world is an opportunity I can’t wait to get stuck into, and I look forward to playing in front of such a great fan base.” Mark McCall also had the right words to say: “Tom is a player that we have admired over recent years and we are delighted that he will be joining us. He is a very smart player who has excelled with London Irish and we believe he will continue to go from strength to strength over the coming years.” Hopefully he will also stay fit!

TOM WEST

Our 3^rd Tom, Tom West also began his career at Wasps. 27 year old Tom is a loosehead prop who came through Wasps’ Academy and made his Premiership debut in 2018 against Saracens! He spent the next 2 years on loan at Nottingham before returning to Wasps in time to start the 2020 Premiership Final (which Wasps lost to Exeter Chiefs). Following Wasps’ demise, Tom moved to Leicester Tigers in January 2023 until the end of the season. It was clearly a huge relief to him to find another Club and once he got himself fit again he started in 5 of Tigers’ 6 straight wins which took them to the Premiership semi-final. His exploits clearly caught the eye of Mark McCall and Saracens offered Tom a new contract for the 23/4 season. Tom has also been to the Sarries PR school, he said: “I’m really happy to be joining such a successful and prestigious club that has had a lot of success over recent years. This has allowed me to put behind what has been a tough year with Wasps.” Mark McCall responded: “Tom will be a fantastic addition to our squad and we are looking forward to him joining us this summer. His qualities are clear to see and with his set-piece ability we believe he will be a real success here.” With the loss of Robin Hislop and James Flynn, Tom will provide able cover for Maku Vunipola along with Eroni Mawi.

WELCOME TO OUR TOMS

Discussion started by TheSaracens.com , 31/07/2023 07:57

TheSaracens.com
31/07/2023 07:57

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2023:08:30:13:05:55 by Darraghgirl.

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OldMarovian
31/07/2023 09:04

Great introductory piece to our new players.
Interesting piece in the DT re England and T Willis today suggesting he's making a strong claim for consideration:
"Borthwick has put a premium on those players who can carry strongly when the yards are most hard, particularly off scrum-half.

This is one area where Willis made a big impression during his cameo season in France with Bordeaux-Begles following the collapse of Wasps.

He topped the charts in the Top 14 for the number of defenders beaten, averaging around 5.43 per 80 minutes and it is understood his power plays have been one of the standout features of England’s summer training camps."
[www.telegraph.co.uk]

I'd be delighted for both Billy and T Willis if both were retained but I had rather thought (hoped) Sarries might have one of them for the start of the season!

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The Bard
31/07/2023 10:42

Very nice piece!
I suspect we’ll go from the situation of Mako being clear first choice for a number of years to having two equally matched players in West and Mawi

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Duncan96
31/07/2023 13:40

With both Tom Willis and the Argentinian No. 8 coming in (and he also looked a useful piece of work against SA over the weekend) I wonder if we will see Billy sometimes used as a replacement? Can you imagine. Bloody frightening for the opposition to see him coming on with 25 minutes to go. Just the sort of power we've been used to seeing on the bench for French teams in recent years and reminiscent of Will Skelton coming on to join Maro, George Kruis and 2 Vunipolas in their prime.

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MonaghanBoy
31/07/2023 18:35

I believe Billy has mentioned his desire to play a little less before. Perhaps both new 8s are to make that happen for Billy - but I can't help but think these are late and early replacements for Jackson and Billy respectively.

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OldMarovian
05/08/2023 08:19

Another good piece in the DT re T Willis:
[www.telegraph.co.uk]

I know I keep banging on (as do others!) but backrow options for this season are crazy. Whether it's last seasons early classic:
McFarland, Earl, Billy
or
Isiekwe, Christie, T Willis
or
CH-H, Knight, JMG
all feel pretty exciting. In fact perm any from that and we're cooking with gas I'd say backrow is the one area Sarries have the depth to go deep in the ERCC.

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TommyKentish
05/08/2023 14:18

Absolutely agree OM. One of the obvious areas against La Rochelle (apart for the breakdown) was a lack of punch up the middle. Now with Willis and JMG added we have a lot more options.

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MonaghanBoy
05/08/2023 14:47

Guessing our first choice back 5 this season is a lottery at this stage. It feels like only Maro and Ben are nailed on starters. After this season it would feel too cruel to have Christie on the bench, but we all know how special Big Theo is. I can imagine Billy playing a lot in the 20 shirt this year as that huge impact player - how valuable that could be in Europe - but then Andy would miss out entirely! I'd be happy to see more of CHH this year, the closest we have to that big enforcer character.

If we're in search of that punch up the middle, I wonder if this will be the breakthrough proper for Hartley.

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