Player Microscope – Tom Harper
Tom Harper: Tight-head prop
Hailing from Mountain Ash in the Cynon Valley, Tom started playing rugby for his local club when he was seven years old – playing all the way through their mini and junior section and progressing to ‘The Old Firm’ senior side.
Tom’s first representative rugby came when he was sixteen when he played for Cynon Valley after trialling for St. John The Baptist High School, Aberdare. After some excellent performances he then progressed into the Cardiff Blues Development Squad.
Finishing school at the age of eighteen, Tom got accepted into Swansea University where he started studying for an Undergraduate Degree in Aerospace Engineering. Whilst in Wales’ ‘second’ city, Tom played for Swansea University. He was on the bench for the Welsh Varsity final in 2017 before starting both the 2018 and 2019 finals respectively. In his final year of studies in 2019 Tom helped Swansea University gain promotion to the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) league – BUCS being the highest level of men’s university rugby.
It was in 2018 whilst still in university that Tom got his first taste of playing rugby in the Welsh Premiership by pulling on the ‘All White’ jersey of Swansea RFC. Tom also regularly returned home to play for his boyhood club Mountain Ash throughout his studies in the West. After gaining his degree he started working for General Dynamics as a Systems Engineer, whilst continuing to play for Mountain Ash.
In January 2020 the powerhouse prop was invited to train with Pontypridd RFC, he transferred to the club just prior to the Covid-19 pandemic and had to wait 18 months to make his debut for the men from Sardis Road.
After finally being able to get started at Ponty, Tom said – “I have really enjoyed getting in a full pre-season at Pontypridd and playing in the Premiership Cup so far. I am looking forward to the rest of the season, especially after such a long-awaited debut due to the pandemic. Going forward I am hoping to push myself regularly into the Pontypridd starting team.”
Tom has featured in all six of Pontypridd’s Indigo Premiership Cup matches so far this season.
