Fleet-footed Croft seizes opportunity

HE’S currently Fleet Street’s cause célèbre, the flanker-turned-second row who can do no wrong. According to one broadsheet writer, it was a “startling decision” he was overlooked for Lions selection, his place apparently going to Alan Quinlan.

But as Quinlan’s appeal against a 12-week suspension was last night upheld by an ERC independent committee, Tom Croft was quickly named in his place for the South African trip.

However, the 23-year-old will be looking for another sterling performance against Leinster on Saturday to prove to McGeechan he should have been in the original Lions party.

It’s been some journey for Croft. Nineteen months ago he couldn’t get into Leicester’s second team. But, this season alone, he has gone from fringe player on the England squad to star turn for his country in the Six Nations. Now the nimble, fleet-footed Basingstoke native will be leading the charge from the second row in Saturday’s Heineken Cup final.

Nimble and fleet-footed are not words normally used to describe a typical lock forward. But Croft is no ordinary man. He measures 6ft 6in, weighs 16 and half stone but can out-sprint most wingers. For example, during fitness tests in England camp last summer, he beat quite a number of the wingers over 40 metres.

His coaches say while his mobility is an asset, particularly in this ELV-heavy season, he’s beginning to learn the darker arts of forward play, whether that is in his best position of blindside flanker or the second row.

Martin Johnson described him as a “hybrid” forward in this year’s Six Nations. Although meant as a compliment that his versatility makes him an asset to any team, Croft’s response to the description is curt: “I’m no typical 18 stone, bruiser second row, I suppose…a bit more lightweight and I suppose and I’m a bit quicker on my feet than most second rows. But no, it doesn’t bother me (to be described as that). He (Johnson) can call me what he wants to.”

Croft has no ordinary biog either and taking dance lessons in his youth might be one explanation for his athleticism around the park. At Tigers training this week, he must again tell his interviewer why he regrets ever mentioning those dancing lessons when the mother of his best mate, a dance teacher, got him involved with the West Berkshire Youth Dance Company.

“It’s all part of my life,” he says. “Some of the guys find it amusing. I find it’s got me some of the attributes I have now. It’s being light on your feet, being a bit agile. I believe it’s given me a lot of core abilities and speed.”

Despite Leicester scraping home unconvincingly against London Irish in the Premiership final, Croft still believes there is enough momentum in the squad to close the deal against Leinster. “If we’d lost at the weekend, there may’ve been panic stations and we could turn up on Saturday, go into our shells and play safe. Nothing wrong with safe…but last weekend wasn’t an attractive win. But it was a win all the same and that momentum is still there. That’s one trophy in the cabinet. I think the boys have a bit more confidence now in these finals.”

He added: “Finals are about winning, not winning with a bonus point or winning by 20 points – it’s about winning the game. We’ve been in a lot of finals over the last couple of years and not come away with a lot. I think winning that final, getting it out of the way will just settle the boys. Come the weekend we’ll be on track and playing the type of rugby we’ve played the last couple of months.”