The Toronto Arrows added Joe Tomlinson for the remainder of the 2021 Major League Rugby season. The 28-year-old hooker is 6’1″ and 227 lbs. He adds depth for the Arrows as nine Arrows players were recently named to Canada’s roster for the national union’s upcoming July tour, along with the expectation that three players will be selected to Uruguay’s squad.
Joe was born in Cardiff, Wales, and attended Cardiff Metropolitan University from 2010-2013, earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Sports Science. He continued at the university from 2013-2015 and earned a Master’s of Science Degree in Sports Science. He also played rugby for the university.
Joe has played with the Cardiff Blues Premiership Select XV, the Shinga Sevens 2016 side, and “celebrated his 100th appearance for the capital city club in the semi-final win over Llandovery and then picked up the man-of-the-match award in the 25-19 triumph over WRU National Cup holders Merthyr at Principality Stadium as he led his side to their first triumph since 1997.”
Joe Tomlinson was described as the best non-professional rugby player in Wales in 2019 by Wales Online.
‘As a captain, he leads by example – often the most effective method of leadership – in the way he carries himself and by being the hardest worker on the field. He possesses all the technical qualities that you need in a hooker but, as we know, there is far more demanded of front-row forwards now.
Tomlinson is very much in the mold of a modern-day hooker with good hands and an apparent base level of strength and fitness that would be required to make it at the top level. He takes a keen interest in training and staying fit away from rugby, almost training like a professional just without the equipment and time afforded to the pros.
Ahead of his 100th appearance for Cardiff RFC, to find out more, who better to ask than the former international front-rowers currently coaching him. Read more!
Joe moved to Canada in Fall, 2019 and has played for Burnaby Lake in the British Columbia Premier League since then.
Toronto Arrows Comments
Tomlinson joins the Arrows following a widely lauded semi-professional career in Wales. The hooker, now working in Canada, made more than 100 appearances for Cardiff RFC between 2014 and 2019; Tomlinson’s long spell with his hometown club was capped off by captaining the side to its first National Cup championship in 22 years in 2019.
Welsh legend Gethin Jenkins, who worked with Tomlinson in the Welsh capital, told WalesOnline: “[Joe’s] got a lot of the things you need to make it at the top level. The main thing is his attitude and his hunger to improve. Plus you have to have that base of fitness and strength to play in the position that he’s in and that’s there.”
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