Quote jonh="jonh"I don't think he flopped but I think he was pretty anonymous but as others have said it wasn't a game where he had many chances to shine due to the style of the battle.
I do however think if Tomkins was fit and performed the same way these boards would go into melt down calling for him to be dropped. That is a mute point however as he isn't fit and Hardaker is our 1 for this series at least and deserves the backing of the England fans.
The only real disappointment for me with his performance was I feel he could have really stood up and made a name for himself on the first try, I think it was, that was his only real "test" and he couldn't prevent the try when he had a reasonable shot at doing so. Being realistic this Kiwi team is miles off the pace missing most of their key players and they should not win a game in this series, I think opportunities will be few and far between for him to be tested in defense so when they come along I think he needs to take them to show up his ability in this respect.
It was his first run out at this level however and I am sure there is more to come, hopefully if we can be a bit more expansive we will see more of him going forward as against this Kiwi squad that is probably where he is going to get more opportunity to show off his talent.'"
Very passive aggressive post from a massive Tomkins/Wigan fan.
This honestly feels like a knives sharpening post if I have ever seen one.
People have failed to mention that his kick offs add another threat from the start and his organisation of the goal line defence especially in the second half was outstanding.
Tomkins attack is benign at test level. It seems obvious to go with a FB who can catch and tackle.
