Varndell

[fortysix]

The worst loss we have ever experienced

Hoe we could have relied on him over the last few seasons, still one of the top finishers of all time

[RagingBull]

Yep looks like he has redound his mojo for bris.

Shame Meyer didn't rate him as much really also thought he was unfairly judge to quickly by England in his prime.

Prob best finisher we have ever had.

[LE18]

Add Hurrell to that, what an effort he put in!

[sam16111986]

Varndell's pace is still incredible even in to his 30s. Great finisher. Defence and under the high ball were still average but when Bristol are absolutely desperate for tries he's the man. That second try was an exceptional finish, the fade away from Pennell to make it only a half tackle was class.

Hurrell was man of the match for me. His time in the lower leagues have really helped him. I'd love to see him back at the club for next season. We'd need Bristol to go down for that though.

[jgriffin]

TV's neglect was one of several reasons I was glad to see the back of Meyer, and I often wonder why. I was originally an enthusiast, then became rapidly disillusioned by our one-dimensional play and some woeful performances.
As for TV I will always remember the 83rd minute try from Goodey's crossfield kick against Quins(? memory going) as I was dead in line with the kick. The truth was they were an explosive combo.
Hurrell was a prancing pony at Tigers, something he admitted in an interview, and he had to undergo some bad times to grow into the good player he now is.

[wormus]

TV's neglect was one of several reasons I was glad to see the back of Meyer, and I often wonder why. I was originally an enthusiast, then became rapidly disillusioned by our one-dimensional play and some woeful performances.
As for TV I will always remember the 83rd minute try from Goodey's crossfield kick against Quins(? memory going) as I was dead in line with the kick. The truth was they were an explosive combo.
Hurrell was a prancing pony at Tigers, something he admitted in an interview, and he had to undergo some bad times to grow into the good player he now is.

I too have always rated Tom Varndell but for me his epic try was in the 44th minute of the Tigers v London Irish game 18th Nov 2006 when he scored his second try with the young Ian Humphreys clearing from under our posts and Horan waited for the ball to go over his dead ball line but Tom had sprinted off the pitch up the touch line to pounce and touch down 3ft from the line. Tom was top try scorer for Tigers in 2005/6 @21, 2006/7 @16, 2007/8 @18 and had 65 tries to his name, hoping he keeps going! Must be WD40.

[TigerCam]

Always a good finisher when put into space. I recall it was always his defence that was deemed a tad flaky?

[Hot_Charlie]

Always a good finisher when put into space. I recall it was always his defence that was deemed a tad flaky?

Defence, high balls. Probably the same reason Wade will only end up with a similar number of caps. Scoring tries though makes everyone happy.

[4071]

Varndell was a quicker Chris Ashton. Under slightly different circumstances he could have had a decent 40-50 cap England career to go with his fantastic club career.

He's going to finish this season as the leading try-scorer in Premiership history and also Amlin/Challene Cup history. I believe that he's the top try-scorer in European rugby with 44 tries in 54 matches (though they have been split between Amlin and Heineken). JSD scored 40 in 59 games, Ashton is on 38 in 56, Clerc bagged 36 in 82 and BOD picked up 34 in 88.

The occasional missed tackle or dropped high ball is more than made up for by his extraordinary try-scoring ability.

[Cagey Tiger]

He's going to finish this season as the leading try-scorer in Premiership history and also Amlin/Challenge Cup history.

If he and Tigers hadn't parted company, he wouldn't have the latter accolade. Which also says something about the quality of the teams he was signed by and part of when he was there. Just an observation.

[BeeJ]

I recall it was always his defence that was deemed a tad flaky?

Ask Sam Vesty.

[4071]

If he and Tigers hadn't parted company, he wouldn't have the latter accolade. Which also says something about the quality of the teams he was signed by and part of when he was there. Just an observation.

Chances are if he hadn't left Tigers then he may have been the top try-scorer in Heineken/Champions Cup history. Clerc played 82 HC matches as Toulouse qualified every year, BOD played 87 with Leinster, and even Ashton picked up 50 appearances during his time with Saints and Sarries.

Of those three - the three top try-scorers in HC/CC history - Ashton's strike rate is by far the best at 0.62 tries per game.

Varndell only played 29 HC/CC matches and still racked up 18 tries - the same strike rate as Ashton, but with fewer starts.