Nick Tompkins turns things around after shedding the weight WRU ordered him to gain and returning to England

When Nick Tompkins was speaking the other day about what Wales need to do moving forward, he could easily have been talking about his own progress over the past two years.

Reflecting on the second-half purple patch Wayne Pivac’s side produced during their narrow defeat to England at Twickenham, he made the point that it has to be delivered more regularly.

“You can’t just be a flash in the pan, you need to be consistently relentless,” he declared.

Therein lies a metaphor for the Tompkins tale.

When the Saracens centre first burst onto the Test scene during the 2020 Six Nations, it really looked as though a new star had emerged.

There had been few more impressive starts to an international career in recent times, with the attacking zip he brought to the Wales backline.

But the events of the next 18 months made you wonder whether it had in fact been a flash in the pan.

His form dipped amid a loan move to the Dragons, there was talk of him having put on unhelpful weight, questions over his defence and he found himself in and out of the national set-up.

Yet scroll forward to today and we find a player at the peak of his powers.

He has been one of Wales’ real standout performers during the Six Nations, with his tireless work in attack and defence.

Against England, he made a repeated beeline for Marcus Smith as a carrier, worked his socks off on the other side of the ball and capped his display with a well-taken try.

That's how it's been with him through the campaign. He has never stopped.

Or to put it another way, he has been “consistently relentless”.

The same goes for his efforts at club level now he is back at Saracens.

He has been tremendous for them this season, with the metres he makes with the ball after contact,