Memory Lane | Tommy Hayes – King of Stats

• 30 Apr 2020

He's a man whose name is written throughout the history books of Glasgow Warriors - resident stats supremo Kevin Millar (@topofthemoongw) looks back at the remarkable club career of Tommy Hayes...

On this day
18 years ago, Warrior #35 Tommy Hayes became the first player to feature
in 100 games for Glasgow. The first of 49 club Centurions to date, he was the
fastest player ever to reach that milestone – the club played just 109 games between his first
and his 100^th appearances.

The Cook
Islands international can lay claim to many more Glasgow milestones from his
time in Scotland. Here are some of the highlights…

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EARLY
DAYS

Tommy’s
debut came on September 8 1997 against Ulster at Ravenhill in Glasgow’s first
ever Champions Cup fixture, in what remains the club’s only away win against
an Irish side in European competition. The stand off nailed a conversion and two penalties to add to James Craig and Murray Wallace’s tries in an 18-12
victory.

SINGLE
GAME POINTS

Tommy is
responsible for the top three highest performances for points scored in a game by
a Glasgow player:

– 32 v Cardiff at Hughenden, 4/11/01

– 27 v Edinburgh at Riverside Park, 25/2/00

– 26 v Edinburgh at Scotstoun, 19/10/97
(equal third with Calvin Howarth)

That 32
point haul against Cardiff remains in the top 10 highest all-time in a
Champions Cup match by a player from any team.

SINGLE
SEASON POINTS

Tommy is
the only player to score over 300 points in a season for the club. During the
2001/02 campaign he notched six tries, 42 conversions, 61 penalties and two drop
goals for a mammoth tally of 303 points. He also has the second-highest single
season haul with 291 points in the 1999/2000 campaign.

CAREER
POINTS

He was the
first Glasgow player to bring up 1,000 points for the club. He remains the second highest points scorer behind Dan Parks (1,520), with the two stand offs being
the only players to score over 1,000 points to date in club history.

SINGLE
SEASON GAMES

His 29
games played in 1999/2000 (starting 27 and coming on as a replacement in 2
others) are the most by any Glasgow Warriors’ player in a single season. He was
actually selected in the matchday squad for all 30 games during that campaign
but was an unused substitute against Ebbw Vale in the Welsh-Scottish league. There
were even a couple of starts on the wing and one at full back to prove his
indispensability!

TRIES

Tommy’s
first try came against Wasps at Scotstoun in his second game (and home debut)
for Glasgow. It was one of a double, as he started off as he meant to continue.
By the time he left the club in 2003, he was the Warriors’ record try scorer
with 29 – a title he held for a decade until DTH van der Merwe brought up his
29^th and 30^th tries away to Toulon in 2013..

EUROPE

He was
Glasgow’s top try scorer in European competition (with 10) until this season, when both Niko Matawalu and DTH van der Merwe equalled his tally before moving
onto 11 tries each. Tommy remains Glasgow’s top point scorer in the Heineken Champions Cup, however – 144 points ahead of Dan Park in second, and 260 ahead of any
current player.