He’ll watch it on the box
“He’ll watch it on the box.”The press release announc-ing the Wales team came with an additional sheet of information: “Wales disasters in Scotland”. There was the possibility of gangrene, and I had three operations in a week.”Shanklin almost turns a whiter shade of pale at the memory of it all. A couple of seasons ago he moved from Saracens to Cardiff, from one underperforming club to another. Father Jim, an honorary member at London Welsh, will not be in Edinburgh, although it seems that almost every other Welshman will “He gets more nervous than me,” Tom said. They stuck pins in my leg and I couldn’t feel a thing; my calf had filled with blood and there was nowhere for it to go. It would heal and then I’d tear it again, and it was such a repetitive process I thought they’d get rid of me. The following year I landed on a boot while making a tackle and thought I’d bruised a calf.
It got so bad I couldn’t walk.”I had a scan and it showed a burst vein I was rushed to the Princess Grace Hospital. Beating England gave everybody a lot of satisfaction, and the win over France was a bit special. We’re more confident, more skilful and we’re not afraid to throw the ball around If there’s a set-back we don’t need to panic. What happened in France showed us that.”Shanklin was born in Harrow and at eight moved to Tenby, the home town of his father, Jim, a centre for London Welsh and Wales in the glory years. Tom, who studied sports science at Brunel University, played at Old Deer Park under Clive Griffiths, who is now Wales’s defence coach, before joining Saracens as an apprentice on £10,000 a year. He spent five seasons at the north London club, surviving a couple of injuries that sent his health insurance through the roof.”In my first season I tore a muscle in my right leg.
“Because we were taller, Gareth and I tended to be used as battering rams or dummy runners,” Shanklin said. “Players would stop for us and that would create space for the others. I’m hoping for a more direct role against Scotland.”Shanklin marked his debut, against Japan in Osaka in 2001, with two tries, and most of his team-mates today were on that tour “We’re experienced enough now to perform to a high level. I know what I can do and I’d like to impose myself a bit more.