Lawrence Dallaglio’s tribute to ‘special person’ Tom Voyce and show of support for family left behind after ‘incredible tragedy’
Lawrence Dallaglio and Tom Voyce celebrate one of many trophy wins for Wasps.
Lawrence Dallaglio will be reminded of one of English club rugby’s most famous days when he joins past team-mates, friends and family to celebrate the life of Tom Voyce in Northumberland this afternoon.
Voyce, the former Bath, Wasps, Gloucester, London Welsh and England wing, died in tragic circumstances last month when the car he was driving was swept away by flood waters during Storm Darragh. He was 43.
Dallaglio, his captain at Wasps where together they won two European Cups and three Premiership titles, arrived in Northumberland last night to offer support to Tom’s family and help give his old pal a fitting send-off.
Painful goodbye
“When you lose someone suddenly it’s so painful,” said the former England captain, whose sister Francesca died in the 1989 Marchioness disaster on the River Thames. “I know only too well that goodbyes like this hurt the most.
“The pain will continue for Tom’s wife Anna, beautiful son Oscar and family he leaves behind. It’s such an incredible tragedy but it’s important we celebrate Tom’s life and remind ourselves of what he contributed while he was here, which was significant.
“It’s quite poignant that it’s a Champions Cup weekend. Because his name will always be linked to that trophy and our Wasps club.”
Voyce started the 2004 and 2007 European Cup finals, in which Wasps beat Toulouse and Leicester respectively. Yet the game many remember most fondly was the 2004 semi-final in which Wasps edged Munster 37-32 in a Dublin semi-final for the ages.
Wasps trailed by seven points two minutes into stoppage time when Voyce, playing on the left wing, popped up with the try which dramatically levelled the scores and allowed Trevor Leota win the match moments later.
“What a game that was,” said Dallaglio. “I remember walking out at the old Lansdowne Road, which was just an incredible stadium. There were 55,000 red [Munster] shirts. I mean, literally. It was like walking out in front of the Kop. We had about 200 fans in one corner.
“The lead must have changed hands 12 times, momentum going one way and then the other. Trevor, I remember, had had a pretty difficult week. His wife had told him she was homesick and she and their children were returning home to Samoa.
“I looked at him in the changing room beforehand and said, ‘Trev, we’re your family now’. I may have overplayed the emotion a bit. We gave away the first 12 penalties!
“But we stayed in the fight and Voycey saved us with his late try, which is very poignant looking back as we are now. He was a hell of a player.”
Support for family and friends
When Dallaglio lost his sister it was rugby that saved him. “I needed someone just to put their arms around me and hold me,” he remembers. “Wasps welcomed me with open arms.
“Now we’re here for Tom’s family and friends, because when things like this happen to good people you need to be there to support.
“When someone dies so suddenly and unexpectedly, leaving a young wife and son behind, it is even more important that they feel love and support around them.
“Wasps is not a place, it has always been about people. Tom was a special person. He spent seven years at Wasps, seven of the greatest years of our lives, to be honest with you.
“I have no doubt there will be a lot of Wasps travelling up to Northumberland to pay their respects and to celebrate Tom’s life.”
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