Young Gun: Tom Bliss – Wasps and USA scrum-half
Joining the club’s academy this summer from Loughborough University, the 21-year-old scrum-half is hoping to back up his impressive performance in the Premiership 7s Series and earn a regular spot in Dai Young’s team.
Bliss spent the last three seasons in the National Leagues with the Students as well as a handful of games for Leicester and London Irish. But with no firm offers and his time running out at University, he joined Wasps and will be their third choice scrum-half with the LV=Cup in sight.
“It’ll be my first game for the senior team so hopefully I can grab my chance should I come off the bench,” he said. “I’m starting the season as third choice so it’s up to me to stay fit work hard and take my opportunities when they come.
“I’ve joined the club only two weeks after finishing the National league season with Loughborough but it’s been fantastic so far. Playing senior rugby was tough especially when it comes to physicality being students but we held our own and managed to stay up.
“I’ve never been linked with any professional club until Wasps. I played some academy games for the Tigers and played every A-league games for the Exiles last season. I even made my LV=Cup debut against Northampton which was awesome.
“Everything is quicker in the Premiership and, unlike in the National Leagues, you can’t afford mistakes. If you do you tend to be found out quickly so I’ve got to work hard to nail the scrum-half’s basic core skills.”
Born in New York, Bliss and his family moved to England when he was five months old and he grew up in Surrey.
His rugby started at the Cobham club alongside Harlequins No.8 and former England U20s captain Jack Clifford while going to Epsom College and captaining the 1st XV.
Keen to further his education, he joined Loughborough University to study Business and Management but his Transatlantic heritage took him to the 2013 Junior World Championship with the Eagles.
While there, he reacquainted with Clifford as the USA took on England in the pool stages.
Bliss added: “I started playing for Cobham at the age seven and stayed until university. We had a great team there with guys like Jack and Madison Hughes who now plays for USA Sevens. We went unbeaten for seven seasons and finished by winning the National Cup in 2011.
“Knowing I had an American passport Madison’s parents put me in contact with the USA coaches and I went to camps in Las Vegas and Atlanta. I ended up playing in the JWC last year which was amazing. Captaining the side made it even better despite some heavy losses against South Africa and England.
“We go way back with Jack playing together from the age of 13-14 when he joined Cobham so doing press conferences with him in the lead up to the game was great. It’s fair to say the banter was in full flow. Unfortunately we didn’t get on the pitch at the same time as I went off at half-time. He came off the bench in the second half.”
