Then came an astonishing moment which surprised supporters, commentators and coaches alike less than a minute after Humphreys’ three-pointer. The Irishman’s thumping clearance kick from underneath his own posts travelled the whole length of the field before appearing as if it would run over the dead ball line and give Irish a dangerous attacking scrum. Exiles full back Michael Horak certainly thought that would be the case, but Varndell had other ideas. The England winger came from nowhere to reach the ball with a yard of the in-goal area remaining for a remarkable individual score.
Priceless
The second: Away a Wasps in a 29 all draw. Tom came off his wing after a tiger lineout win just on the edge of the Wasps 22. Picked a great line in the centre of the field and ran over without a deffender getting near him.
Sheer pace.
Can't remember which game it was but the time he chased a lost cause kick and the defender dallied around and he dived over to score. Sheer speed and willingness to chase kicks.
A TIGER TILL I DIE!!
Supporting since 1977 and proud of it!!
His last minute try against harlequins at welford road was immense. It seemed that all was lost until about ten minutes to go when we scored two tries. It meant we secured a top four finish. It was one of those classic games when the crowd really got behind the team and the noise was incredible. Lets hope for many more of these occasions next season, especially with 6'000 more fans packed into the Cat stand.
Both of his tries in that Quins game that secured our place in the SF were special. The first was a classic Varndell try, standing up the fullback before setting off round the outside of him without being touched.
Though it's not one moment, I thought his game against Clermont in the HC a few years ago was an absolute peak - he was up against Breyton Paulse (who was later recalled to the SA side) but he used his strength to bully him and his pace to burn him to rack up 4 tries.
One that probably won't be recalled by many was in the HC match against the Ospreys which was won by Hipkiss deep into injury time. Everyone will remember the Hipkiss try, but few will recall that a couple of minutes before his score, the Os kicked deep into the corner, and Varndell collected the ball about 1m from touch, close to the Tigers tryline, with Stefan Terreblanche right on top of him. Instead of rushing a clearance kick or stepping into touch, TV faked to go inside and then went outside in virtually no space at all. Terreblanche couldn't touch him, and he made it up to around half-way before the cover caught him. This set up the position and possession that led to Hipkiss' score. Not many other wings in world rugby could have done that.
How can anything possibly beat the winning try in the 2006/7 HC QF against Stade Francais? The best atmosphere at WR I have ever experienced. The place went mental! Hernandez had threatened to turn us over on his own and TV came up trumps. A great tem performance, but what a score! I went to Afghanistan 4 days later and missed everything that followed, but what a memory to take with me.
the try against irish when humphreys put the huge kick in. i was standing right infront of in the (then) next stand so im on the video jumping up, it was the face on the london irish player which made it for me.
1. THAT try against LI. I saw it from the terrace at the A&L end, and couldn't quite believe it was happening.
2. The try against Quins at the Stoop in 2007-08 - took the restart and BAM! Eat my dust.
3. The last-gasp try against Quins to put up in the playoffs - when he went over I picked up both the Gate juniors and danced up and down. Nearly did for my back, but hey.
