Tom Varndell signs for Yorkshire and not everyone's happy about it
Yorkshire Carnegie have confirmed the signing of former Leicester and Wasps winger Tom Varndell, 33, on a one year deal.
It comes a week after the financially stricken Championship club were given the green light by the RFU to press ahead with preparations for the new season.
Yorkshire’s participation was subject to the club satisfying certain conditions relating to them entering into a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA).
Insolvency practitioners supervising the CVA entered provided confirmation to the RFU by the August 9 deadline that 100 per cent of the club’s creditors had either agreed to the terms of the CVA or been paid in full by third parties.
That left the RFU, as per regulation 5.3, confirming that the Leeds-based club would not be subject to a deduction of 28 points for the new Championship season.
We are delighted to announce the signing Tom Varndell on a one-year deal
READ MORE ?? https://t.co/C5SeOQ0TOC pic.twitter.com/bCpPYT9WYp— Yorkshire Carnegie (@carnegierugby) August 16, 2019
Free from avoiding that season-ruining punishment, Varndell has now been recruitment by the club that has Joe Ford working as head coach under the director of rugby, Martyn Wood.
The winger, who has four England caps, holds the record as the leading try-scorer in the Gallagher Premiership with 92 tries during his time with Leicester Tigers, Wasps and Bristol.
He is the sixth signing announced by Carnegie as the club continues to rebuild its squad. At Leicester he won the title in 2007 and with 180 Premiership appearances, as well as international honours, he brings a wealth of experience to Yorkshire.
So Carnegie effectively went bust – not penalised at all for it by the RFU, owe some of last season’s players wages and other costs and now spending again with some big signings for championship? That about the sum of it?! https://t.co/H54rjag0Mu
— Ben Ryan (@benjaminryan) August 16, 2019
A Commonwealth Games silver medallist in Melbourne in 2006, he was also named Guinness Premiership young player of the year in 2006.
In recent years he has played with Scarlets and French club Soyaux Angouleme and this year played with South China Tigers in Hong Kong in the Global Rapid Rugby series. His recruitment by Yorkshire has been questioned on Twitter by Ben Ryan, the Olympic-winning Fijian coach.
But Yorkshire boss Wood said on the club’s website: “We are delighted to bring a player of Tom’s quality and experience to Yorkshire Carnegie. He is a proven finisher at all levels and we are looking forward to having him at the club.”
Yorkshire's Championship saga has delivered a verdict from the RFU that has left Richmond unhappy https://t.co/5mSj189QnF
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 12, 2019
Yorkshire’s early August announcement of Ford’s recruitment triggered a backlash on Twitter – from one of the club’s own players.
Backrow Daniel Temm wrote on the social media platform that the signing of a player of Ford’s profile was unbelievable considering what some current players are going through at the club.
“I find it truly unbelievable that Yorkshire Rugby are able to sign a guy like Joe Ford with premiership credentials. They have players who they signed and moved their families across the country and the world who have received 15 pence to the pound on agreed contracts!
Have players who played 30 games for the club last year who are now receiving personal medical bills from companies as the club is not willing to cover Xrays and MRIs that were undergone by players on recommendations and necessity from the clubs medical staff. But whilst this 2/3
— Daniel (@danieltemm3) August 2, 2019
“We now have players who played 30 games for the club last year who are now receiving personal medical bills from companies as the club is not willing to cover Xrays and MRIs that were undergone by players on recommendations and necessity from the clubs medical staff.
“This is happening the board who have lead the club into this financial crisis are left to operate how they please with no consequences. The thing for me as a player is that this issue isn’t just a financial issue. It is something that the England Rugby/RFU needs to look into.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
No question they were the better team. But that is the beauty of sport isn’t it!
95 Go to commentsEveryone is into Hurling in Ireland according to Porter, but only 11 of Ireland's 32 counties enter a team into the national competition. Same old blarney.
1 Go to commentsLet’s be honest. The draw and scheduling in the World Cup was a joke but South Africa found a way after having to go the hard (nearly impossible) way to the Cup Final via France and England. NZ had a hard game against France (lost) and had 5 weeks to prepare for the Quarter, 3 weeks knowing it was Ireland. NZ theerfore had to win one big game against an Irish team who played SA and then Scotland 7 days before. They won and it was de facto a semi final because they were playing a relatively weak Argentina team and it was a walk over. In the final a very rested NZ team was playing a very tired SA team and still lost. They couldn’t score more than 11 points. Put another way SA had to find a way to win while tired and they achieved that. NZ should thank their lucky stars that they fixed the scheduling in 2015 otherwise they would be dealing with a Bok treble.
95 Go to commentsPerhaps if Bongi wasn’t targeted and removed from the game in the first 3 minutes it would have been quite a different game. Maybe if NZ also faced the same competition the Boks faced to their win NZ would have looked quite different. The final score shows who outplayed who.
95 Go to commentsRubbish article! Abuladze played most of Exeters matches when fit. He got injured against Glasgow a while ago and is out for the rest of the season, thats why he hasnt played for Exeter and Georgia recently. Do some proper research next time!
1 Go to commentsGotta love it when kids throw their toys out the pram and can’t hack it with the grown ups debate. Here’s looking at you turlough! 😉🤣
147 Go to commentsThey lost the game period move on
95 Go to commentsSpringboks won! Stop winging. You can change the game however much you and your rugby colonizing IRB want to and the Springboks will win you at that too. Your mind is colonized my friend get a life
95 Go to commentsBen, nobody gets fooled anymore by selective and biased data to support an hypothesis. Games are decided on such small margins these days that you win some and lose some, and dominance is a thing of the rugby past. Look at the RWC circle of fortune…. Ireland beats SA who beat France who beat NZ who beat Ireland. And so it goes on. Match officials help to eliminate real indiscretions. If they had been with us years before, no doubt results would have been different. Remember Andy Haden’s dive from a lineout in 1978 for which a match-wining penalty was awarded? Wales should have beaten the ABs that day. They took the loss like the gentlemen they were.
95 Go to commentsWith all the analysis and how good the all blacks were.The fundamental mistake with the ABs is that this is a test match and not an exhibition.There is no better team(country) in world rugby than the Boks that knows how to win a test match(we are post masters at this).We know our rules, we have the discipline, we tackle like beasts, we take our points and we never give up.I now have educated the ABs supporters(at least say thank you).Please stop “bitching” , accept what the outcome is and move along swiftly.
95 Go to commentsAnd they came from behind to win two big games before the final. No one can say what would have happened. Had the boks gone behind the game plan changes and the result may changes. Ifs and ands are irrelevant. The boks won. Neutral critics enjoyed the games they played. Its not a popularity contest. Get over it and move on.
95 Go to commentsI'm happy for the people of SA to get a second WC. And I mean that. I was very disappointed with this man's “stand on the hand” incident with Josh Van Der Flyer (Ireland). Ireland's downfall in the last WC was they did not rotate their first 15 as the head coach probably should have. That said, I'm happy for SA and genuinely hope it lifts the mood in their country. Ireland did beat them in the first match of the tournament. And before the trolls start trolling ….. please don't bother. Etzbeth said recently that the Irish players said after the match “see you in the final”…..this was actually wishing the SA team the best of luck in the rest, the Irish team were not dismissing the AB’s. This is what Etzbeth was implying. But he was wrong. I no longer live in Ireland. But I hope to see them lift that cup before I pass. Anyway, congratulations SA. 👍
12 Go to commentsMore bloody click bait. Dan Carter has said absolutely nothing. As he should do. Poor journalism again from a site that should know better
9 Go to commentsOh god please help these loosers get over it!!!! You lost. Doesn't matter how many times you dummies are gonna analyse the game, you still lost and we are still Rygby World Champions….get over it, you lost.
95 Go to commentsThe next Willie le Roux. SA are made not to use him.
3 Go to commentsDan has always been as controversial as tea with milk so we were never going to get any definitive answer. So DMac for the win.
9 Go to commentsGoodness. When are the All Blacks and New Zealand commentators going to stop complaining about how they could have won and just try to win next time 😂. In South Africa if you lose you get up and try again. Get over it.
95 Go to commentsHonestly, it doesn’t matter a whole lot. RSA has a ton of experienced talent in its leadership group. I am more interested in who is the new 8 man/8 men and the younger props. The captain may change but the system does not
1 Go to commentsBen, you are one of the most arrogant and self opionated rugby critics I have ever come across (next to Keohane). I hoped that after SA beating the best ranked teams in the world on their way to the WC (something not done before) that you might have the grace to admit that this is a special team that deserved the accolades coming their way. You have no humility and as has been been already pointed out, merely a troll to attract audience numbers. Count me out in the future.
95 Go to comments‘War of independence’. Such a grand name for a few skirmishes. Where were all the great battles of this ‘war’ ? Smith got goosebumps as he was being emotionally manipulated, another mushroom.
1 Go to comments