Finishing third in National Two South was at the time the club’s best-ever finish, and it was a highly successful campaign for Tom as he crossed the whitewash 15 times.

Things have continued to blossom from there, with Rams winning National Two the following season before finishing as runners-up in National One.

And looking back, the vice-captain admitted: “It was the second season I was back from University and the first season Seb (Reynolds) was in charge after taking over from Mike Tewkesbury.

“He brought some new patterns in his way of playing and a key development phase for us during quite a good season.

“I remember those two games (Cinderford and Chinnor) because they’re two teams I don’t like losing to!

“I remember the last-minute kick from Cinderford after Joe Duffelen’s try where we thought we’d won it, but we definitely learnt a lot from those games and I think that really showed last season with how we went about closing out games in the last few minutes.

“We didn’t take out foot off the gas and put in 80-minute performances.”
Reminiscing about last season, there was one thing which Tom said leapt out to him.

He admitted: “It was physical! As a back rower I found it a lot harder to get the ball, but it was a fantastic experience to step up and the boys did really, really well to adapt. I enjoyed every moment.

“It’s really a tribute to Seb, the coaches and (S&C team) Daryl (Watson) and Joe (Southwell) for getting us into the right conditioning because the step up from National Three to National Two was big, but the physical step up from Two to One was even bigger.”

In another fine season for Tom, he finished joint top-scorer with 12 tries, ending up level with Jak Rossiter.

However, he acknowledged: “If you ask Jak about that I think my combined metreage for tries was probably about 15 whereas his was probably five or six times that, but they all count.”

Tom also played a key role in the 11 penalty tries Rams claimed, and said: “The first time I realised how strong the forward pack was when we had a pre-season game at Doncaster and a couple of times we pushed them back on their scrums.

"That was the moment I thought ‘wow’ because before I’d only been able to compare us against National Two sides.

“With the coaching from Rooty and outside help as well, it’s really come together and improved that side of our game. (The scrum and maul) was a real asset of our game so it will be interesting to see how we go in the cup competition!”

Tom is one of a clutch of six players closing in on a half-century of tries for the club, with James, Baker, Joe Duffelen and Ben Henderson all on 47, while he and Jamie Guttridge have 41 apiece.

In terms of a target, though, Tom joked: “As long as I can beat Hendo, I’ll be happy!”

And lastly looking ahead to the National Cup, where Rams will face Henley Hawks, Chinnor, Rosslyn Park, Esher and Barnes in a mouth-watering group, Tom concluded: “It’ll be nice to just have something – and going out and enjoying it. You never want to lose a local derby and I think everyone tries to up their game for them, so it should be exciting.”

Rest of the calendar

1 - Jez Flynn
2 - Andy Lynch
3 - Josh Collis
4 - Joe Bell
5 - Rodney Hutson
6 - Seb Reynolds
7 - Jamie Guttridge
8 - Robbie Stapley
9 - Gary Reynolds
10 - Alex Seers
11 - Owen Root
12 - Nick Flynn
13 - Conor Corrigan
14 - Rookie the Ram