Young Gun: Tom Baldwin – Bath flanker

A double try-scoring performance in only his fourth senior rugby game set Bath‘s Tom Baldwin’s career off on the right foot and with his loan to Rosslyn Park finalised the 19-year-old is ready to take the next step.
Baldwin has worked his way through the Bath academy since he was 15 and following a spell in the fifth flight last season he is set to turn out in National One this year.
Baldwin will switch from National Three South West Chippenham to Park – a huge climb in quality which the flanker admits was vital for his development.
He said: “Chippenham is a great club and they were great people there but there wasn’t a high enough level of skill to really help me – it’ll certainly be tougher this year. I need to really be challenged if I’m to improve.
“I want to work on my physicality and I’m sure the league is going to be physical and will test my skills and teach me different ways of playing.”
Baldwin rose to prominence with two tries in Dorset & Wilts’ 43-22 County Championship Shield win last year over Surrey at Twickenham.
At just 18, Baldwin put in a barnstorming display and believes it was a perfect introduction to senior rugby.
He said: “I couldn’t have asked for a more ideal start to my senior career. I started on the bench but managed to get on after 15 minutes, played really well and got two tries at Twickenham – you couldn’t have wished for more.”
Park have been on the recruitment trail following their fifth-placed finish at the end of last season with fellow Bath youngsters Will Spencer and England U20 international Will Skuse also moving.
And, following his time in the A-league, Baldwin is out to impress his coaches back at the Rec during his stint with Park. “Ideally I would eventually move into the Bath back-row, there are a lot of players there at the moment but the coaches want us to push the senior players,” said Baldwin. “The coaches have told me they’re always expecting us on loan to perform and they want to notice our work.
“It’ll be great actually playing for something – we’ll be scrapping for points that matter rather than trying to get game time and it’ll be more of a team atmosphere.
“It’s always been a dream for me to play professional rugby and I never forget how lucky I am so I need to make sure I push into the first team.
“At the moment I’m just focusing on each game as it comes to make sure I’m doing my best every time.”
Baldwin had a taste of Bath first-team action when he lined up alongside the likes of Matt Banahan and Tom Biggs in last month’s JP Morgan 7s. And, despite admitting handling the pressure of an 18,000 strong crowd was another obstacle to prove he could tackle, Baldwin revealed he was already hatching a plan to impress the coaches away from match days.
“In training I try to put in some big hits on the main first-team guys because you want to go prove yourself,” he said. “That way you can put a marker down in front of the coaches and that’s what I’m always aiming to do.
“I expected the Sevens to be really hard and of course it was but I thought I handled it well and actually felt pretty comfortable which gave me a big confidence boost.
“Playing with the big players really forces you to push on and step up your game and I think I did.”