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What Italy finally winning has done for Stephen Varney at Gloucester
Gloucester boss George Skivington has given his verdict on the very different return of Stephen Varney to the Gallagher Premiership following some rare success with Italy.
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It was the 2020 Autumn Nations Series when the soon-to-be 23-year scrum-half was first capped by the Azzurri but until the last two months, his international adventure wasn’t the kindest as the Italians lost the majority of their matches.
For instance, the recent Rugby World Cup in France ended with pool-stage hammerings by the All Blacks and Les Bleus. However, they enjoyed a tremendous finish to the 2024 Guinness Six Nations, learning from their respective three- and 36-point losses to England and Ireland to draw with France and then beat Scotland and Wales.
This great improvement in results cruelly wasn’t good enough for a huge surge up the table – their 11-point tally left them finishing in fifth, one point behind the fourth-place Scots and nine adrift of the title-winning Irish.
Varney, who scored a crucial second-half try in the win over Scotland in Rome, was a starter against Ireland and Wales and he brought an added pep in his step back to Gloucester to help them win at Leicester last weekend for the first time in 16 and a half years.
Allowed to play the entire 80 minutes at Mattioli Woods Welford Road, Varney struck with a late converted try to seal his team’s 27-25 win and it left coach Skivington singing his praises heading into this weekend’s derby at home to Bristol.
Asked by RugbyPass if he has noticed a difference in Varney coming back to Gloucester after Italy had torn it up in the Six Nations, Skivington said: “I’d say he is more buoyant. Our lads enjoy the day-to-day here, but certainly that would have been a big boost.
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“His Italy career until this Six Nations has been pretty tough going and they played really well. He had genuine competition for places in that Six Nations, which is great for him, and he has genuine competition here now as well, which is brilliant.
“He is definitely in fine fettle and in good spirits, and he moved the ball really, really well I thought on Friday night and got that try. He is in a good spot.”
Less than seven weeks before his next birthday, the 22-year-old Varney has packed more than 50 club appearances and 29 Test caps into his short career. However, ensuring he is at the top of his game as often as possible is something that has exercised Skivington.
“It’s a challenge,” he admitted. “I remember when I came in, Steve Varney, Jack Clement, I gave them quite a bit of exposure early on because I thought they were going to be very talented in years to come, and there are a few other young lads.
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“Some lads develop a bit slower. But those two really sort of ran with it, have had a few ups and downs but are still very young and very talented.
“Steve has probably found a good maturity in his game now around when to pass, when to run and the kicking opportunities, he worked very hard on his kicking and he is just growing nicely.
“There is a good balance here at Gloucester of not letting lads get ahead of themselves and think they have cracked it or anything like that. I don’t anticipate from an attitude or anything like that point of view, Steve won’t do anything but get stronger and stronger.
“Any dips in form or anything like that is part and parcel of sport but while Steve is in a good spot and enjoying his rugby, let’s embrace it.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
31 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
31 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
31 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
31 Go to comments