Tom Gordon (Clark 2010–2014) left St Paul’s Collegiate School in 2014, planning a gap year in Scotland. Eleven years later, he is still in the United Kingdom – now playing professional rugby for Newcastle Falcons after six seasons with Glasgow Warriors, including their 2023–24 URC Championship-winning campaign.

“I basically came for a gap year and I never left,” Tom says. “It’s been 11 years now.”

Fresh out of school at 17, Tom headed to Scotland with no fixed rugby ambitions. What he did have was family. His mother’s cousins still lived in the house where his grandfather was born, and one of them was the president of Scottish Premiership club Currie RFC.

“I wanted to go on a gap year, and Mum has cousins still in Scotland,” he says. “My mum’s cousin said, ‘You can stay with us, and we’ll get you a job.’ So I played at Currie RFC.”

At the time, rugby was not the main objective.

“I wasn’t coming over to play rugby professionally, but I wanted to play a bit while I was there,” Tom says.

A quiet word from New Zealand about his eligibility through his grandparents opened another door.

“I got a little word put in from New Zealand that I was coming over, and they said, ‘He’s eligible to play for Scotland.’”

The change of pace was immediate.

“I turned up a week after finishing school. I was 17 and played my first game of proper men’s Premiership club rugby a week after I got there. That was a bit of an eye-opener,” he says. “I was like, ‘This is what real men’s rugby is’.”

Not long after, an email arrived inviting him into the Edinburgh under-18s and under-20s environment.

“From there, I was in and around Scotland under-18s and played my way in,” he says. “I was going to go back to New Zealand, but I didn’t know when. Then I played under-19s the next year and Edinburgh offered me an academy contract. I said, ‘Alright, I’ll give this a go.’”

What began as a year overseas slowly became something more permanent.

“I stuck in the academy for a few years, played under-20s, had a year of club rugby with Currie, and then after that I went to Glasgow Warriors. I’ve been here ever since,” he says. 

Tom signed professional terms with Glasgow Warriors in 2018 and went on to make 76 appearances across six seasons at Scotstoun. He featured in ten matches during the 2023–24 campaign as Glasgow secured the United Rugby Championship title.

In the summer of 2024, he joined Newcastle Falcons, bringing his trademark work rate to the English Premiership. A specialist openside flanker, Tom has built a reputation for his work at the breakdown, consistently ranking highly in tackle and turnover statistics. While much of his rugby development happened in Scotland, the foundations were laid earlier.

St Paul’s was where Tom developed his discipline, physicality, and understanding of the game. Those who watched him remember a competitive edge and a willingness to do the unseen work – traits that now define his professional game.

A 2014 St Paul’s photograph from his final year captures Tom in the front row as captain of the First XV, flanked by coach Andrew Gibbs (Staff 2005-2021) and assistant coach Ryan McCarthy (Staff 2011-current). Also in the image is current All Black hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho (Sargood 2013-2015). That season, the team won the Central North Island Competition, finishing unbeaten across the CNI campaign. Tom was also selected for the Chiefs Under 18 team alongside teammates Shneil Singh (Fitchett 2010-2014), Christopher Fawcett (Fitchett 2010-2014), and Taukei’aho.

For Tom, the decision not to rush home after that first year was less about certainty and more about openness. “I was going to head back to New Zealand at some point,” he says. “I just didn’t know when.”

That uncertainty became opportunity. Each season led to another contract, another challenge, another level.

Tom embraced the pathway in front of him. What began as family connection became international representation, and eventually professional rugby.

There is a simplicity in how he describes it.

“I just kind of hung around,” he says.

In reality, it has taken resilience, adaptability, and consistency to sustain an 11-year career away from home. Moving countries at 17, stepping straight into senior rugby, navigating academy systems, and earning contracts in a competitive professional environment requires more than chance.

Now 29, Tom continues to build his career in Newcastle colours. The “gap year” may have stretched well beyond its original intention, but the willingness to step into the unknown remains the same.

Eleven years on, Tom Gordon is still on that gap year – and it shows no signs of ending.