Blood & Mud

Tom Varndell will not play for England - Hooray!

Varndell: thankfully will not be seen in this kit for a bit

There was a time last season when a few rugby commentators and fans in England lost their marbles a bit and actually started to believe that Tom Varndell is an international-class player. "Yes," they would say, "we know he can't tackle, pass or catch very well, and that his positional sense is equal to that of a drunk Zebra trying to get into a Lions-only members club. But, that is in the past, he is a much improved player now."

They were of course wrong: Tom Varndell is rubbish. He is fast and that is it. It took Meyer, the new coach at Leicester, about one afternoon to figure this out and so Tom has spent the first six weeks of the season getting his arse acquainted with the bench.

Following the Tigers coach's lead, Gigantic Jonno has also dropped the winger and brought in Bath's Nick Abendanon; a player who can pass, tackle, kick and as a bonus also run in more than one direction. He's been doing in spades for Bath - big huge spades, like the one my grandad used to use down the pit.

Michael Lipman has also been brought in for Lewis Moody, who has been dropped because of injury rather the real reason he should be dropped: because he's a walking penalty.

Oh, and Danny Cipriani is back in. Full squad after the jump.

Forwards: Steve Borthwick (Saracens), George Chuter (Leicester), Jordan Crane (Leicester), Tom Croft (Leicester), Dylan Hartley (Northampton), James Haskell (Wasps), Nick Kennedy (London Irish), Lee Mears (Bath), Michael Lipman (Bath), Luke Narraway (Gloucester), Tom Palmer (Wasps), Tim Payne (Wasps), Tom Rees (Wasps), Simon Shaw (Wasps), Andrew Sheridan (Sale), Matt Stevens (Bath), Phil Vickery (Wasps).

Backs: Olly Barkley (Gloucester), Danny Care (Harlequins), Harry Ellis (Leicester), Toby Flood (Leicester), Riki Flutey (Wasps), Shane Geraghty (London Irish), Dan Hipkiss (Leicester), Josh Lewsey (Wasps), Jamie Noon (Newcastle), Pete Richards (London Irish), Paul Sackey (Wasps), James Simpson-Daniel (Gloucester), Mathew Tait (Sale), Nick Abendanon (Bath), Danny Cipriani (Wasps).

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Tom Varndell will not play for England - Hooray!

Varndell: thankfully will not be seen in this kit for a bit

There was a time last season when a few rugby commentators and fans in England lost their marbles a bit and actually started to believe that Tom Varndell is an international-class player. "Yes," they would say, "we know he can't tackle, pass or catch very well, and that his positional sense is equal to that of a drunk Zebra trying to get into a Lions-only members club. But, that is in the past, he is a much improved player now."

They were of course wrong: Tom Varndell is rubbish. He is fast and that is it. It took Meyer, the new coach at Leicester, about one afternoon to figure this out and so Tom has spent the first six weeks of the season getting his arse acquainted with the bench.

Following the Tigers coach's lead, Gigantic Jonno has also dropped the winger and brought in Bath's Nick Abendanon; a player who can pass, tackle, kick and as a bonus also run in more than one direction. He's been doing in spades for Bath - big huge spades, like the one my grandad used to use down the pit.

Michael Lipman has also been brought in for Lewis Moody, who has been dropped because of injury rather the real reason he should be dropped: because he's a walking penalty.

Oh, and Danny Cipriani is back in. Full squad after the jump.