Tom Varndell
.jpg) | |||
| Full name | Thomas William Varndell | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 16 September 1986 | ||
| Place of birth | Ashford, England | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Weight | 101 kilograms (15 st 13 lb)[1] | ||
| Rugby union career | |||
| Current status | |||
| Position(s) | Wing | ||
| Current team | Bristol | ||
| Playing career | |||
| Position | Wing | ||
| Amateur clubs | |||
| Years | Club / team | ||
| Chinnor Henley | |||
| Professional / senior clubs | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 2004–2009 2006 2009–2015 2015- |
Leicester Tigers → Bedford Blues (loan) Wasps Bristol Rugby |
113 2 132 22 |
(325)65t (10)2t (370)74t (75)15t |
| correct as of 12 April 2015. | |||
| National team(s) | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 2006 2005-2008 |
England Saxons England |
4 |
(15) |
| correct as of 21 March 2015. | |||
| Sevens national teams | |||
| Years | Club / team | Comps | |
| 2005 | England | ||
Tom Varndell (born 16 September 1985) is an English rugby union footballer who plays on the wing for Bristol Rugby who gained recent promotion into the Aviva Premiership. Varndell also has caps for England and England Sevens, as well as having represented other Aviva Premiership sides Leicester Tigers and Wasps.
Early career
Varndell began playing rugby aged 8 at Chinnor rugby club in Oxfordshire[2] before moving to Henley Hawks, where he stayed until he was 15. He was later invited by Dusty Hare, the former England full back, who was Leicester's Chief Scout, to train with them.[3] He spent two years at the Tigers' den but left to take up a scholarship at Colston's Collegiate School in Bristol.
Career
Varndell returned to the Tigers in 2004, and made a quick impact in the Premiership. In his second appearance with the Tigers senior side, he recorded the fastest hat trick of tries in Premiership history, doing so in a 13-minute span against Worcester. He finished the 2005-06 Guinness Premiership regular season, top of the try list with 14.
Also in 2005, Varndell made his debut for both national teams within one week. On 26 November, he scored a try against Manu Samoa at Twickenham in his first full 15-man international. Then, on 1 and 2 December, he made his England Sevens debut in the Dubai Sevens, the first tournament in the 2005–06 World Sevens Series. Varndell was the tournament's leading try scorer as England claimed the title.
In 2006, Varndell was chosen in the England Saxons team for the 6 Nations, but after impressive displays for both Leicester Tigers and England in the Rugby Sevens at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, he was awarded with a two starting places on the first team, development tour to Australia. For the Elite players squad in the 2006/07 England Squad he was subsequently dropped and demoted back to the England Saxons side with new Leicester team mate, Jordan Crane.
In September 2006, Varndell played for Leicester's feeder club, Bedford Blues, and scored a try on his debut against Exeter Chiefs.
The start of the 2007/08 season saw Varndell back on the wing in the starting 15 for Leicester's opening games in the Premiership. He scored 18 tries for Leicester during the 32 games he played in the 2007/08 season
In late 2007 his girlfriend Claire gave birth to a son called Taio Varndell.
Start of 2008 saw Varndell selected for the England Saxons squad. He started the first game against the Ireland A team, at Welford Road and scored.
He was selected in the England Saxons side that defeated Ireland A at Welford Road on 1 February 2008, scoring a brace in his first international since the tour to Australia 18 months prior.[4][5] Saxons coach Steve Bates was keen for him to put pressure on first team selection.[6]
Varndell was selected for the 2008 summer tour to New Zealand and started in the 2nd test against New Zealand in Christchurch, which England lost 44–12. Varndell did, however, score a try for his team.
He was named as a member of Martin Johnson's first England elite player squad ready for selection for the 2008/09 international season but was dropped before the start of the 2009 Six Nations.
He has continued to play with success for the England IRB sevens team, and was a try-scoring member of the England Saxons team in this year's (2009) Churchill Cup.
Varndell moved to London Wasps and had an instant impact, scoring 4 tries in his first two matches. In his first Wasps season he made: 26 starts, 3 replacement appearances, scoring: 19 tries, with a total of 95 points for Wasps.
He continued his scoring record in the first game of the 2012–13 season playing against reigning champions Harlequins, a game in which he was the first player in the Premiership to have a try disallowed under the new TMO law for an earlier infringement.[7] As of the start of the 2013-14 season, he is the Aviva Premiership's third all-time top try scorer with 75 tries, behind the retired Steve Hanley (78) and the current all-time leader, Sale Sharks wing Mark Cueto (90).
On 7 January 2015,it was announced that Varndell was to move to Bristol Rugby, competing in the RFU Championship for the 2015-16 season.[8]
References
- ↑ Wasps, London (28 August 2012). "Varndell Data". London Wasps.
- ↑ Kitson, Robert (10 December 2005). "Varndell finds feet on fast track to the top". The Guardian.
- ↑ Jones, Stephen (11 December 2005). "Varndell a racing certainty". The Times.
- ↑ "England Saxons squad for Ireland A match". RFU. 23 January 2008. Retrieved 3 February 2008.
- ↑ "Varndell shines in Saxons victory". BBC. 2 February 2008. Retrieved 3 February 2008.
- ↑ "Varndell stakes Six Nations claim". Sky Sports. 2 February 2008. Retrieved 3 February 2008.
- ↑ Aylwin, Michael (1 September 2012). "Champions Harlequins fight back from a 27-point deficit to beat Wasps". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
- ↑ "Bristol sign former England winger Tom Varndell from Wasps". BBC Sport. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2016.