Son of Premiership try machine takes next step towards pro career

The son of former Premiership try record holder Tom Varndell is one of eight players named in Coventry Rugby’s senior academy for the 2025/26 season.

Taio Varndell, still only 17, is also an electric winger and was formerly part of the academy set-up at Leicester Tigers, where his dad starred for many years.

Varndell junior has had a brilliant season for Coventry U18s, scoring in every game he played through searing pace and footwork, and looks set for a bright future.

However, he’ll do well to match the achievements of his dad, who in his Premiership days held the record for tries scored with 92, made 180 Premiership appearances, including 82 for Leicester Tigers, 88 for Wasps and 10 for Bristol Bears. He also earned four England caps and won a Commonwealth 7s gold medal with England Sevens.

Taio Varndell is a product of Coalville RFC, to the north-west of Leicester, and his inclusion in the academy, along with the rest of the intake, reflects Coventry’s desire to have a high percentage of West Midlands-based talent in the first team moving forward.

According to Chief Executive Nick Johnston this model seeks over a period of time to position Coventry as the natural go-to location for playing talent in the region.

“We have set ourselves the objective that 60 per cent of our senior playing squad will eventually originate from the West Midlands,” he said.

“This will, of course, take time. Our recent investment in an academy, the international pro rugby combine and in identifying talent from around the region was the first step on this journey and the shape of our squad for next season moves us further down the same road.

“In Alex Rae, we already have a Coventry product as head coach plus a number of players with West Midlands roots. Now our recruitment – especially in a much bigger senior academy group – adds to this local core and over time we intend to expand this into the club’s dominant identity.

“In a way, this takes us back to the future as Coventry’s glory days in the 1950s, 60s and 70s were built on a network of strong rugby-playing local schools and junior clubs.

“But it also embraces what we currently see in professional sport around parts of Europe where clubs mobilise a really strong regional identity and as a result, great success stories are written.

“I know it sounds ridiculous to make the comparison, but we can look at the Basque model where football clubs like Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao have thrived by relying solely on talent from the Basque region.

“We’ve seen similar success in rugby too, with teams like Biarritz and Bayonne achieving great results by following the same philosophy.”

“Only when you start really looking across professional and semi-professional rugby in the UK do you begin to notice how many players have roots in our region. Becoming the natural home for this talent is our objective.”