| Date of birth | 16 September 1985 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of birth | Ashford, England | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Weight | 100 kg (15 st 10 lb) [1] | ||
| Rugby union career | |||
| Playing career | |||
| Position | Wing | ||
| Amateur clubs | |||
| Years | Club / team | ||
| 1994–2000 | Chinnor Henley rugby club |
||
| Professional / senior clubs | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 2004–2009 2006 2009– |
Leicester Tigers → Bedford Blues (loan) London Wasps |
52 2 23 |
(190) (10) (75) |
| correct as of 23rd January 2007. | |||
| National team(s) | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 2006– 2005– 2005– |
England Saxons England England Sevens |
4 |
(15) |
| correct as of 23rd Jan 2007. | |||
Tom Varndell (born 16 September 1985 in Ashford, Kent) is an English rugby union footballer who plays on the wing for London Wasps, England and England Sevens. He claims to have been clocked at 10.8 seconds for the 100 metres in his socks on grass.[2] If correct, this suggests that Varndell could run much faster over 100 metres, rendering him as arguably one of the fastest men in World Rugby.
Varndell has played for Aviva Premiership side London Wasps since the start of the 2009/10 season.
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Varndell began playing rugby aged 8 at Chinnor rugby club in Oxfordshire[3] before moving to Henley Hawks where he stayed until he was 15 when he was invited by Dusty Hare, the former England full back, who was Leicester's Chief Scout, to train with them.[4] He spent two years at the Tigers' den but left to take up a scholarship at Colston's Collegiate School in Bristol.
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, bagging a brace in his first international since the tour to Australia 18 months prior.[5][6] Saxons coach Steve Bates was keen for him to put pressure on first team selection.[7]
Varndell was select 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 contimued to play with success for the England IRB sevens team, and was a try-scoring member of the England Saxons team in this years (2009) Churchill Cup.
Varndell moved to London Wasps and had an instant impact, scoring 4 tries in his first two matches. His defensive ability is still questioned as tries have slipped past him whilst playing for Wasps. So far in his London Wasps career he has made: 42 starts, 4 replacement appearances, Scoring: 26 tries, with a total of 130 points for London Wasps.
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