Varndell (World Class or 1 season wonder)

stevetelcom2000 · Post by **stevetelcom2000** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 12:25 pm

I mentioned this last season but got shot down. No doubt a world class sevens player. But he basically a sprinter with Rugby boots on. On Saturday he scored a try where all he had to do was run over the line, which he did. He had the pace to not only do that, but put the ball under the post's. He didnt, leaving it more difficult to convert the try. Just one incident in the game, but there were others. It shows his lack of Rugby instinct. Things like that cannot be coached.

boondock · Post by **boondock** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 12:52 pm

if you needed someone to run really fast over a patch grass with socks but no shoes on you'd put varndell top of the list.

however, if you needed someone to play world class rugby he'd be way down that list.

tackling, positioning, kicking and several other areas of his game need to vastly improve if he is to realise his potential. he is relatively young still so time is on his side to an extent but if he is going to be a regular in an england shirt he needs to make the progress pdq.

simon redshaw · Post by **simon redshaw** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 12:55 pm

Fair points there, Boondock, and Tom does have to improve his all round game.

The question is how and who can teach him? Many have said that he must improve his game, but very few, if any have how he is to do that, unless I am mistaken.

Iain · Post by **Iain** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 12:57 pm

He has the potential and raw ingredients to be class act, but is very raw at this stage. He SHOULD improve over time, but he should also be aware that "he's very raw" won't wear indefinitely, and a step up will be needed.

stevetelcom2000 · Post by **stevetelcom2000** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 1:40 pm

Questions must be asked when someone who is not the finished, or anywhere near the finished article, get's picked for his National team. Thats probably a discussion for another thread. And maybe not for me as an Irishman to get too involved in. May I also add that an onfire Leicester team. firing on all cylanders. Stretching defences & creating space on the flanks. Can afford the luxury of a Varndell type player. The current grind out a result type game enforced on LT at the moment. Does not lend itself to such luxury's.

G.K · Post by **G.K** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 8:28 pm

ST2000. You are so right about that try. It would have been much better if he had concentrated on getting the ball grounded as near the posts as possible rather than practicising his silly swallow dives. One extra conversion can sometimes make the difference between winning/loosing/drawing, e.g. Glos the other week.

Outlander · Post by **Outlander** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 10:26 pm

Sorry to chime in from a long way off, but I occasionally see Leicester and England on Setanta .

What bothers me about Varndell is that he recycles the ball so poorly. When he gets cut off, he will either go into touch or lose the ball. He doesn't seem to have the art of either off loading or staying alive until his mates get there.

bigstef · Post by **bigstef** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 11:05 pm

A question that i myself have often asked myself for me yes you can say that he is young and i agree he is possibley the hottest talent in British rugby however all his hype has not helped him and i feel that sometimes when he gets the ball he tries things that last season he wouldn't have and as already said he has things he needs to work on, but again he's still young and luckily he has plenty of time to work on those skills, Tommy V all the way

4071 · Post by **4071** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 9:48 am

Got to agree with the general sentiment that he's a long way off.

He had it too easy at schoolboy level, which is why many of his other skills are way behind the level they should be. The more he gets exposed and tested, though, the more he will be aware of his weaknesses and the more he will work on them.

He appears to be considerably less arrogant than you'd expect from a hyped-up try-machine (compared to, say, Marcel Garvey, who let the praise go to his head and didn't work on improving his weaknesses), which is good.

The promising thing is that he has the foundations to be truly exceptional.

If a raw player with a lot of poor skills can rack up 30 first class tries in 34 starts, and 2 in 3 appearances at international level, then you just KNOW he has the potential to be much better than most other players.

A lot of players will work hard, improve every area of their game and reach their potential - and they'll still never be international standard.

If Tom Varndell gets even close to his potential he will be a very good international winger.

Chris Lunson · Post by **Chris Lunson** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 11:15 am

Personally i think Tom Varndell is a brilliant player. Technically he has everything pace, a good sidestep and a good boot. Though I am a little worried about his defence. I think he needs to put on a couple of stone in weight and work on his defence before we can call him a world class player.

mike_6 · Post by **mike_6** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 5:08 pm

to be honest in my limited understanding of wingers, me being a blindisde flanker, it seems as though varndell could definately do with some tackle practice. to be honest he could do with practicing everything apart from running :censored: fast!

potential is all well and good but it depends if he can fulfill that potential. hopefully he does and can make the change from awesome 7s player to awesome 15s player.

also i think he could maybe do with a bit more bulking up round his upper body, but NOT if it sacrifices his speed.

unohoo · Post by **unohoo** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 1:08 pm

How many tries did we concede to Quins? 'nuff said. :D

WharfedaleTiger · Post by **WharfedaleTiger** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 10:08 pm

Could be world class. he's worked a lot on his defense and it looks like it's improving. He's still incredably young, give him another 2 seasons and he'll be world class. Reamber, he's only 21, he's got 3 caps and 2 tries. Not bad really.

Mat · Post by **Mat** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 11:01 pm

A crazy question after just so few 1st class games.

World class pace yes.
World class sidestep yes
World class potential yes

30 tries in 34 games if that stat is real then that is evidence enough of his potential.

AS already said he has a lot to learn. Not sure I agree he needs to learn to knock players back in the tackle though aslong as he brings them down thats good enough for me. Skilled palyers are important to unlock moden defences. The various pacific islanders etc just dont score enough tries The Tuilagis may smash people in defence but have not got the guile or real pace to beat players like Varndell can. Oz never smashed players back but was about the best cover tackler around. If Varndell could become like him then I would be very happy.

dailywaffle · Post by **dailywaffle** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 11:22 pm

Totally agree, Mat. Tom's positives outweigh his negatives, we should be more concerned at our inability to give him the ball in space.

A chap called Rory Underwood was no more than adequate in defence; I wonder how many posts he would have got moaning about his lack of ferocity in the tackle :roll:

Spot on re Oz, he must hold the unoffical record for try saving tackles.