Guest: Welsh regions kicking themselves for letting Varney slip net
HAVING taken on the best scrum-half in the world, and beaten him, Stephen Varney ensured Louis Rees Zammit isn’t the only Welsh Hartpury College old boy to catch the eye this Six Nations.
Pembrokeshire-born Varney’s doubledummy on Antoine Dupont on the opening weekend went viral and Alex Guest, his academy coach at Gloucester, believes all the world’s a stage for the Italian international.
“He excites me, and it is good to see him now trying things like that,” Guest said. “I know he is quite a humble guy, and he won’t like the footage going around but I sent it to him because it is a massive positive, he went toe-totoe with the best nine in the world and did very well.”
To be forewarned is to be forearmed, as they say, and England made sure Varney wasn’t given the same opportunities to run in last weekend’s match.
But the 19-year-old, who qualifies for the Azzurri through his Italian grandfather, still held his own against Test centurion Ben Youngs – and Guest predicts his highlights reel will only improve with time.
“It is almost like he is a kid in a sweet shop because he is getting to
experience something new and exciting every week,” he said.
“He has played against Dupont, he has played against Ben Youngs who has been there and done it, and every game is like a ‘wow’ moment.
“He has worked really hard on his game and his core skills are better than most nines in the country, I reckon.”
Released early by Scarlets, Varney lacked a bit of self-belief when he first arrived at Hartpury. But the teenager’s confidence is growing with every game and four tries in eight Premiership appearances, plus five Test caps, speaks volumes for his ability to handle the step-up.
Guest added: “If you look at his background, his release from the Scarlets wasn’t great. And then he moved from a tiny little village in Pembrokeshire, where I think he said only 400 people live, aged just 16. So I think there’s probably always been that seed of doubt in his mind, ‘should I be doing this’?
“But he has gone from our U18s to his Hartpury debut in the Championship to Italy 20s, to Prem starts, and now the Italy first team,
“I know the regions quite well and I know they are kicking themselves for letting him leave Wales; they know they have let someone good go.”