Words by Tom Connor
Born in Queensland’s Rockhampton on the 23rd November 1993, Tom grew up playing his Rugby for Sunnybank. In a family rich with Rugby talent, Tom is the younger brother to former Sevens star and Waratah Matt Lucas, as well as former Queensland Reds star Ben Lucas.
Growing up, backyard Rugby was always fierce in the Lucas household, with the boys perfecting a tackling technique that would serve them well in years to come.
Rising through the junior representative programs as a Fly Half, he was a member of the ARU’s National Academy and in 2012 was a member of the Sunnybank Rugby Sevens program.
From there he was selected to play for the Aussie Thunderbolts at the 2013 Oceania Men’s Sevens Championships in Fiji. Making the most of his opportunity, Tom was chosen with Alex Gibbon to join the national team soon after.
Coach Michael O’Connor had no hesitations calling Tom in to the national program and was quoted as saying “He’s a Lucas so I know what I’m going to get”.
It wasn’t long before he made his International Sevens debut in October 2013; during the Aussie Sevens former World Series home leg on the Gold Coast. Running out in front of a home crowd, Tom became the third member of the Lucas family to represent the Australian Sevens.
Following in the footsteps of Ben and Matt, it leaves youngest sibling Isaac (15) as the only one yet to represent the Australian Sevens – no pressure Isaac!
Tom has scored 72 points spread over 10 tournaments on the World Sevens Circuit, which includes 14 tries and 1 conversion.
Tom was also part of the men’s Bronze placing in the 2014 Commonwealth Games at Glasgow.
Most recently, Tom has been selected in the Australian Sevens team for the Hong Kong Sevens. Without a doubt the biggest tournament on the circuit, the Aussies will be aiming to take home some silverware and valuable Olympic qualifying points in the process.
