‘A rich history... but rugby must move with the times’
EX-TIGERS WINGER VARNDELL IS NOW HELPING TO GUIDE THE NEXT GENERATION OF PLAYERS
TOM Varndell believes rugby needs to adapt and move from its “old school” ways to continue to develop as a sport.
The former Leicester Tigers winger recently saw his reign as the Premiership’s all-time record try-scorer brought to an end by Chris Ashton following his hattrick against the club for whom Varndell scored his final top flight try, Bristol Bears, in 2017.
Now the 36-year-old is operating as an agent for his Elite Athlete Management agency, helping to guide the next generation of rugby stars.
“When I was at Yorkshire Carnegie I stepped into it, it’s always something I wanted to do,” said Varndell, who scored 45 of his 92 Premiership tries for Leicester Tigers.
“I wanted to be a mentor and help players for the next generation coming through.
“Rugby is very difficult, it is a professional game, obviously, but in some ways, it still lacks a little bit of professionalism when you compare it to other sports.
“I’ve done a lot hanging out with some of the American franchises over there and some of the American football teams and the NBA, and just seeing how they conduct themselves and it is just a different level.
“If we can capture some of what they have over there in terms of how they market sport and how they make it a show.
“Sport is everything to Americans, it is big over there.
“Rugby has such a rich history, it’s got a lot of die-hard fans.
“Without being arrogant or making players put themselves on a pedestal, it has to be more entertaining for the next generation of fans coming through.
“It’s not all going to be about the old school ways. The sport has to adapt.
“If I can help that happen, through the agency, through players, helping them giving them guidance, hopefully they won’t make the same mistakes I made in my career.
“The game has to move with the times a little bit.
“It’s doing well with the coverage it gets now, with social media. Clubs are really stepping up. I think Bristol are fantastic at doing that.
“They’ve really changed the approach of social media for sport.”
Varndell left Welford Road for a move to Wasps in 2009 where his prolific try-scoring prowess continued before leaving the club shortly after their migration north to Coventry.
The four-times capped England international had spells at Bristol, Scarlets and French second division side Soyaux Angoulême XV Charente before making a brief return to Tigers in 2019.
He still plays on a social basis and on the sevens circuit, but Varndell’s energies are now primarily being poured into looking after the careers of rugby players and passing on his experiences.
“For me it’s about that mentor role, helping players with their contracts, commercially, mental health is obviously the big, big talking point at the moment and has been for a couple of years,” he said.
“Because it’s a rough ride sometimes. Fans look at the sport and think ‘I’d love to be a rugby player’, but it is up and down.
“It is a tough job to do, you’re getting battered every single day.
“It’s about making sure players are set up after rugby as well because not everyone is going to be Maro Itoje or Owen Farrell, they’re going to have to have a job after it.
“Championship rugby has taken a battering over the last couple of years with Covid and the financials, then promotion not happening this year.
“A lot of those guys are parttime but they’re expected to train probably just as hard as the Premiership lads, while having a fulltime job to pay the bills.
“It’s a tough market at the moment but I am really enjoying it. I didn’t want to work for someone else, I wanted to work for myself and create my own sports agency.
“It’s a work in progress and there’s lots of stuff I am learning all the time. I am enjoying it and being around the sport
I love is what I want to do.
“I didn’t want to go in at the top and try and negotiate contracts for the big-time players, because these guys are already at the top of their game, they’re already being looked after by the big agencies.
“You’re fighting a losing battle there because you couldn’t offer the same services.
“What I wanted to do was start off at National One, Championship, Premiership academy boys and start helping them, start at the bottom and work up.
“Now we’ve secured a few Super Rugby players, we’ve got Taqele Naiyaravoro from Northampton and some good youngsters coming through like Jon Kpoku who was at Saracens.
“We’ve got some really good contacts across the global market.
“The MLR (Major League Rugby) is a big market for us, I’ve just spent a month over there, mixing with some of the MLR teams and seeing how they’re doing it and getting an understanding of the global market and what’s needed.”
The Premiership is not the be all and end all for Varndell’s clients, with new opportunities presenting themselves in markets that simply didn’t exist when he was in his playing heyday.
“Boys now are more inclined to move,” he said. “It’s not ‘oh it’s rugby and that’s it’, there’s so many markets. There’s the Japanese market, French market, the American market is growing and developing.
“There’s a lot of options out there for boys. If you can’t make Premiership, go elsewhere, still enjoy your rugby, still get paid a decent wage, and you still experience professional sport, there’s a lot of options there for guys.
“If you’ve got a squad of 50 or 60 lads, only 23 can play on a matchday.
“You’ve got a lot of boys who are not getting any rugby. How can you develop?
“You can only develop by getting game time and experiences.
“Rugby is about experiences, that’s how you develop. Go out to a different market. Try different countries, get that life experience, have some fun in the sun as well.
“Tell you what, November in England is pretty s*** for a winger. Go out there and have some fun, that’s what I want to do for these guys.
“Obviously make some money, because that’s what is going to pay the bills, but give these boys opportunities.”