‘Tough’ stint at Yorkshire Carnegie was ‘final nail in the coffin’ for Tom Varndell

Capturing the signature of the Premiership’s all-time leading try-scorer was undoubtedly one of very few highlights in a woeful season for Yorkshire Carnegie.
LEEDS, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 13:  Tom Varndell of Yorkshire Carnegie releases the ball during the RFU Championship match between Yorkshire Carnegie and Bedford Blues at Headingley Carnegie Stadium on October 13, 2019 in Leeds, England. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)LEEDS, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 13:  Tom Varndell of Yorkshire Carnegie releases the ball during the RFU Championship match between Yorkshire Carnegie and Bedford Blues at Headingley Carnegie Stadium on October 13, 2019 in Leeds, England. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)
LEEDS, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 13: Tom Varndell of Yorkshire Carnegie releases the ball during the RFU Championship match between Yorkshire Carnegie and Bedford Blues at Headingley Carnegie Stadium on October 13, 2019 in Leeds, England. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

In luring ex-England wing Tom Varndell to Leeds, the Headingley outfit landed a high-calibre performer of undoubted quality to supplement a squad comprised predominantly of youngsters just starting out and players recruited from lower divisions hoping to prove themselves at Championship level.

Four touchdowns in 11 appearances followed, but that was where the positives ended.

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Such was the brutality of the 2019/20 campaign, 34-year-old Varndell has decided to call time on his professional career.

LEICESTER, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 12: Tom Varndell of Leicester scores a try during the Guinness Premiership match between Leicester Tigers and Gloucester at Welford Road on November 12, 2005 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)LEICESTER, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 12: Tom Varndell of Leicester scores a try during the Guinness Premiership match between Leicester Tigers and Gloucester at Welford Road on November 12, 2005 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
LEICESTER, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 12: Tom Varndell of Leicester scores a try during the Guinness Premiership match between Leicester Tigers and Gloucester at Welford Road on November 12, 2005 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)

In his own words, “the tough year with Yorkshire was pretty much the final nail in the coffin”.

To describe the season that has just gone as “tough” might be an understatement.

Anchored to the foot of the RFU Championship having lost all 14 of their league fixtures with a frightening points-difference of minus 528 when the season was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic, Carnegie were last month relegated to National One.  

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Varndell knew what he was getting into when he signed for cash-strapped Carnegie last summer, but it is unlikely that he – nor anybody else – would have predicted quite how disastrously things would unfold out on the field.

PENZANCE, ENGLAND - JANUARY 12: Tom Varndell of Yorkshire Carnegie makes his way off at the final whistle during the Greene King IPA Championship match between Cornish Pirates and Yorkshire Carnegie at Mennaye Field on January 12, 2020 in Penzance, England. (Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images)PENZANCE, ENGLAND - JANUARY 12: Tom Varndell of Yorkshire Carnegie makes his way off at the final whistle during the Greene King IPA Championship match between Cornish Pirates and Yorkshire Carnegie at Mennaye Field on January 12, 2020 in Penzance, England. (Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images)
PENZANCE, ENGLAND - JANUARY 12: Tom Varndell of Yorkshire Carnegie makes his way off at the final whistle during the Greene King IPA Championship match between Cornish Pirates and Yorkshire Carnegie at Mennaye Field on January 12, 2020 in Penzance, England. (Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images)

The club kicked off the season with an 83-0 defeat to Nottingham and went on to ship more than 50 points in 13 of their 20 outings.

At the age of 34, enough was enough for Varndell.

”That’s me done,” the former Leicester Tigers and London Wasps man told rugbypass.com. 

“When you are getting flogged 60 points to nil and you’re trying your hardest and it makes no difference, it’s tough no matter who you are and what experience you had.

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“It was hard and there was a lot of dark conversations. It was just tough.

“I made the decision that I wanted to get into sports management two seasons ago and the way it’s going at the moment with how busy I am with this agency stuff, I just don’t think I would be able to give my all to a team.

“I love the game. I will miss that banter of the team changing room and playing the big matches, but I probably won’t get to play in cup final matches ever again as a player. 

“I’m 34 now and the body, it’s had enough. In terms of being smashed and the body aching, that’s me done.”

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Varndell began his senior career with Leicester in 2004, where he was surrounded by giants of the game including England World Cup winners Martin Johnson and Neil Back and Ben Kay.

The Tigers were one of the dominant forces in English rugby at the time, known for the ultra-professional, uncompromising environment in which they trained and played.

For someone who cut his teeth in such a setting, his spell with Yorkshire was rather an eye-opening experience.

“There were times when I was in the car with the rugby coach and players would be phoning in saying they couldn’t do any more because they can’t commit to the travel and the nights because it was affecting their actual work life,” added Varndell, scorer of 92 tries in 180 top-flight matches.

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“It was the first time I experienced that as a professional sportsman where players were having to sack off rugby and training because they have got a job to do and didn’t have that financial support or that ability to get that financial support from the club.

“You always went out there with the best intentions but I realised no matter how hard we were training we just weren’t getting enough time with each other.

“No matter how hard the coaches worked, there were mornings of games where players were dropping out and they were having to call players in from all over.

“It’s hard to feel any positivity with that.”

Although his time in Leeds was difficult, Varndell has sympathy for Carnegie’s situation – and that of his former team-mates.

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“It was tough but I have to give full credit to all the players and all the coaches. Martyn Wood was there before Phil Davies came in and they have done a fantastic job,”he said.

“They just weren’t given the resources to do the job fully. It was no fault of Yorkshire Carnegie, it was just the situation the club was in. They were losing players because they didn’t have the resources to fund them.

“Some boys were just getting a match fee. They were doing it basically for the love of the game but even that wasn’t enough because you have to pay the bills, you have to be able to function in your family unit and you have to be able to put bread on the table.

“It was very eye-opening.”

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