Tom Savage is one of those players who never took the easy route and deserves every bit of success that he gets!

From jumping from level five rugby to the Premiership in a single summer, to playing over 190 games for Gloucester, moving to Japan at the peak of his career, and now helping build something special at Moana Pasifika — Savage’s story is built on consistency, work ethic, and knowing exactly what he brings to a team.

In this episode of What a Lad, Tom opens up about having no academy pathway, cleaning changing rooms just to stay in the game, the shock of his Premiership debut at Franklin’s Gardens, and what it really takes to last at the top level for over a decade.

In this episode, we cover…

- Growing up without a clear rugby pathway and discovering the game later than most

- Choosing Hartpury as his only route into professional rugby

- How he managed to play 190+ games in one of the toughest competitions in the world

- Why he left Gloucester after eight years of loyalty

- The unexpected call to move to Japan

- The chaos of COVID and flying home to an empty Heathrow Airport

- What Japanese rugby is really like behind the scenes

- Joining Moana Pasifika and buying into the culture

- Leadership lessons learned across three different countries

- Differences between Premiership, Japan & Super rugby

This episode is a proper deep dive into resilience, professionalism, and building a career the long way. Plenty of lessons, plenty of perspective, and exactly what you’d expect from an all-time team man.

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