Tom Johnson retires from rugby

Tom Johnson admits it has been a “phenomenal journey” as he this week brings the curtain down on his career with newly-crowned Premiership champions Exeter Chiefs.

Brought to the Devon club in 2007 from Coventry, the 34-year-old forward has been an integral cog in the Exeter machine in recent years.

His all-action displays won him many admirers, including with former England coach Stuart Lancaster who handed Johnson his international debut in 2012.

The first of a new breed of international stars here at Sandy Park, Johnson took on the elite of the modern-day game, tackling the likes of South Africa, Australia, Argentina and New Zealand on his way to winning eight caps for his country.

In a career loaded with many high points, Johnson admits being part of the Chiefs squad who last weekend lifted English rugby’s top prize offered the perfect and fitting finale to a wonderful playing career.

“When I sit back and take stock of it all, it’s been a phenomenal journey,” he said. “Coming here initially with Coventry and playing, it kind of lit my ambition. I knew then that this was a club going places and that if I ever got the chance to come here, I would have to take it.

“Thankfully, the chance came and the rest is history as they say. We had two close campaigns under Pete Drewett in the Championship and then we had that promotion-winning year with Rob [Baxter]. That was a great season and something very special to be part of.

“However, I remember rocking up that summer for the first season in the Premiership and things were already different. I wouldn’t say the boys had changed too much, but the whole feeling, the whole set-up, it was completely different. The tempo, the tactics, the expansion, it was all on another level.

“As a player, it was great see that we weren’t going to just make up the numbers. We wanted to give ourselves a fighting chance. We didn’t know what was going to happen, but if we we’re going down, we were going to down fighting and firing shots.”