Meet Tom Varndell, the South China Tigers’ expat try-scoring machine raring to go in Hong Kong
- The English Premiership’s all-time leading try scorer comes to Hong Kong to take part in Andrew Forrest’s Global Rapid Rugby
- Thirty-three-year-old says he is delighted to be in the city and is looking at further opportunities here
At this point in his career, Tom Varndell, the English Rugby Premiership’s all-time leading try scorer, is as concerned about life off the pitch as on it.
The 33-year-old, who has had a decorated career for various clubs and country, just signed with the South China Tigers, the Hong Kong Rugby Union’s team that will compete in Andrew Forrest’s Global Rapid Rugby. He recently axed a short stint in France to play for that very reason.
Varndell said the cultural barrier was too high for he and his family, and thus after six games with Soyaux Angouleme, a team based in the southwest of France, he headed back to familiar territory: the Leicester Tigers, the squad he played for last in 2009.
Varndell’s French excursion is well documented and the challenges of life outside the major cities in the country is well known for foreigners, and so the towering, powerful winger who stands 1.88 metres tall said it is all in the past and he is amped to be in Hong Kong for a new adventure.
“I’m fresh off the boat as they say,” said Varndell, who is currently rooming in Wan Chai with Fiji Olympic gold medallist Samisoni Viriviri, who was also brought in to play for the Tigers. “I just felt this was an opportunity I couldn’t say no to.”
