Saints Q&A: Toby's ready to help Saints Thame the Tigers in cup clash
Toby Thame has previously been labelled by Saints boss Phil Dowson as a player with an 'outrageous ceiling'.
It is an illustration how how highly rated the 22-year-old centre is within the black, green and gold setup.
And he will look to once again showcase his ability when Saints take on Leicester Tigers in a PREM Rugby Cup pool-stage clash in front of a big crowd at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens on Saturday (kick-off 3.05pm).
Ahead of the game, Thame took time to speak to the media about a variety of subjects.
Here is the full question and answer session…
Q: How much are you enjoying this season so far?
A: "It was something I’d always hallmarked around, trying to get a step forward with minutes, especially after a frustrating ACL injury kept me out for the majority of last year. I’ve been loving my minutes in the PREM and especially in the Champions Cup. Obviously, the depth we have now is pretty ridiculous, with Freemo (Tommy Freeman) coming into the centres, but they’ve been great mentors to me."
Q: Did it help you having Robbie Smith and Sam Graham going through injury rehab at the same time as you?
A: "They were amazing. Going through that stuff with those lads – I was 20 or 21 years old and still pretty immature around how I approached rehab and just the consistency of how you had to be for nine months or so and the diligence around the idea that no one’s going to help you. You’ve got to help yourself, really – obviously you’ve got physios, but ultimately it’s down to you, and those boys put a massive arm around me, especially in being vulnerable and showing that they were struggling as well, so it didn’t feel like you’re alone."
Q: Were you promised more minutes this season?
A: "I don’t think anything is promised, as such, and I don’t think we expect that as players. It’s about how far you can push yourself personally, how willing you are to improve and get better every day, and then the minutes will come as a result of that."
Q: How good was it for you to score a try on your first PREM start, against Sale in December?
A: "That was incredible. It was a miss pass over to Josh Kemeny and I was just running after him – pretty special stuff happens if you follow Kem normally – and diving over the line was mega, and to win that game was equally special.”
Q: How was your first experience in the Champions Cup (at Pau in December)?
A: "Playing with the Pyrenees in the background and having some mental French fans screaming in your face was a very special day! I think all the lads felt that as soon as we walked off the bus, walking through a packed tunnel into a full stadium where they just weren’t quiet for the whole 80 minutes – it was awesome."
Q: How much have past Saints Academy products inspired you?
A: "There’s direct evidence of people who were in similar positions doing incredible stuff, like going off to play for the Lions and England, and the faith I and the rest of the players have in the coaches in the academy stuff and the set-up allows them to do that. If I can follow in the footsteps of someone like Tommy Freeman, I’ll be very happy."
Q: How do you feel you've progressed this season?
A: "I’d say, physically, the gym is your right to play, pretty much, and obviously in the PREM you’ve got some unbelievable athletes and I think I’ve stepped up my conditioning. I’ve basically been as attentive and reactive in training as much as possible. When you’re playing alongside the world class players that we have, you can’t help but be brought up to their level, so I’d put my development down to that."
Q: How much are you looking forward to this block of PREM Rugby Cup matches?
A: "We’ve got a long five-week block of fixtures and it’s a great opportunity not just to get good minutes but it still shows our depth with the experience we still have in this side. It’s a great chance for us to develop our leadership qualities as well as our playing qualities. You’re always wanting to get better as a player and I’d like to see myself in a leading role over these next four games. Obviously, we’ve got great support staff around us to help us lead."
Q: How much are you looking forward to facing Leicester in front of a big crowd this weekend?
A: "An East Midlands derby is always awesome – it’s great that we have a fixture that means so much and has so much history. We really want to go after them after our loss away to them in the last block of PREM Cup, so we’ve got some wrongs to right. It’s awesome for a PREM Cup game to be a sell-out and I just think that it shows the success in the PREM and in Europe is having a knock-on effect for everything else, so it would be great to carry on that success."
Q: Obviously there is work to do in order to progress in the PREM Cup with Saints sitting fourth with four games to go in the pool stages…
A: "We’re on two wins and two losses, so there’s plenty of work to do, but obviously we’d love to have some knockout rugby. That’s a challenge for players, regardless of skill level, and it’s good practice for the end of the season. Having the chance to bring in some silverware early on would be amazing."
Q: How enjoyable has it been to be around all the recent success?
A: "It’s a lot easier on a Monday for everyone when the boys are coming off a win! But equally we haven’t rested on our haunches; we’ve kept hammering the nail and going hard in every session and we’ve just been getting better and better each week."
Q: You currently top the tackling stats in the PREM Rugby Cup…
A: "It’s not something I knew about! It’s a great system we have here that allows you to go and by physical and dominant when called upon, but I wouldn’t say I’m going out of my way specifically to make that many tackles."