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The ‘eyes on it’ reason why Tom Biggs is aiming for Thailand success
By Liam Heagney
Whatever happened to Tom Biggs, the 2008 England Saxons pick who won a Powergen Cup medal with Leeds before also playing for Newcastle, Bath and Worcester? It was early last Sunday when RugbyPass bumped into him in the Hong Kong Stadium tunnel.
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The 39-year-old these days is coach of the Thailand women’s 7s team and they had just been beaten 0-24 by China, who later that afternoon went on to win the Melrose event that was staged as a Hong Kong outlier.
It was the second loss of the weekend for the Thais as they had been beaten on Saturday by Hong Kong 10-28, but those results didn’t at all dim the enthusiasm Biggs has for a fledgling team new to the Challenge Series.
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Krakow in mid-May is the finale for that second-tier series and while Thailand are currently placed seventh, their coach hasn’t given up hope of securing the top-four finish that would qualify his girls for the promotion/relegation tournament in Madrid against the HSBC SVNS bottom four teams.
The Hong Kong invite did them the world of good despite the results. “It’s been fantastic,” Biggs told RugbyPass. “For the girls to be out in Hong Kong amongst some of their favourite players, amongst teams on the world series has been great for them.
Delighted to have joined @thailandrugbyunion to be Head Coach for @thaiwomenrugby
The staff have really looked after me, and the girls are really hard working, have a lot of energy, and are great fun to work with. Also a huge bonus that they can braid my hair. pic.twitter.com/Bv7PU3ZXAm
— Tom Biggs (@tombiggs11) October 16, 2023
“A lot of the teams have taken their time to speak to the girls and have pictures with them. They really appreciate that. It’s massive. They watch all the world series on TV and they particularly look up to the Australian women’s side. For the girls to meet them means an awful lot.
“Everything this week has been excellent, all the organisation, the hotel, the travel, the food, it’s been awesome. Absolutely outstanding. We have been treated like royalty. The girls couldn’t be happier.”
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Bridging the gap is quite the challenge given that set-ups like Thailand aren’t full-time. Biggs’ coaching role is full-time, but his players juggle their rugby timetable with either work or education.
“I’m based in Bangkok and we typically train early in the morning and evening which allows the girls to study and do their work throughout the day.
“Some are in the airforce, the navy, but most are at university. There is a big rugby culture in the forces in Thailand and that is where a lot of the players come through from.
“I wouldn’t like to single one out because all the girls work really hard. We have got some great young players who I’m looking forward to giving more experience to.
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“We’re on the Challenger Series, a step below the world series. The top four teams get to go to a play-off and the quality that we have in our squad is really good. We’d love to have more opportunity to play against more teams of a high calibre.
“We want to get into that top four of the Challenger Series so we can have a go against teams that come in the bottom four of the world series. But first and foremost we want to win the Asian series. That is important to us.”
— Hong Kong Sevens (@OfficialHK7s) April 12, 2024
What is also important to Biggs is taking positive strides forward in his coaching career. It was October 2017 when the winger was told to retire on medical grounds from playing. Six and a half years later, he explained he is enjoying the path he has taken and has long-term aspirations of achieving higher up the ladder.
“It was a slow transition out of the game. I did a bit of coaching, strength and conditioning work and then gradually got back involved with coaching. I did the strength and conditioning with China and it was great to see the China men’s team out here on Hong Kong as well and see and few familiar faces.
“I’m really enjoying Thailand. It was just a good opportunity, an exciting opportunity to work with a lot of young players and there is real potential to grow the sport. The girls are a great bunch to work with. They want to get better and they want to improve and I’m able to have my own input on the squad.
“I’m in Bangkok full-time so it’s typical hours in the job. That is the hardest thing, you are away from family and friends and the language barrier is a little bit difficult. That’s going to take a bit of work but I get a lot of support.
“I’m very happy at the moment coaching Thailand. Obviously in the future I’d like to progress as a sevens coach. It’s a fantastic sport and with the Olympics, eyes are on it.
“The production values as a sport are excellent and more and more people want to see and watch it. At the moment I am happy coaching with Thailand, but I want to progress at some stage in my career.”
