11:40am Friday 24th July 2009
By Alan Feldberg
TOM Varndell wiped his feet on the welcome mat at Wasps then announced: I want to be like Paul Sackey.
The former Leicester winger signed on a two-year deal this summer and knows exactly whose career path he wants to follow.
He said: “Paul Sackey is just a fantastic player. He’s a role model for a lot of younger players and you just have to look at what he’s achieved since he’s been at Wasps.”
Sackey was raw and relied heavily on his speed when he signed from London Irish in March 2005. He was in the Saxons squad by the end of that year and has now won 22 full caps, scoring 11 tries.
Varndell, who runs the 100m in 10.6 seconds but whose own international career has not caught fire yet, said: “Paul’s come here and established himself and I can look at him and almost let him teach me.
“There is so much I need to work on. Nothing is 100 per cent in my game and I could learn so much from Paul.
“If I could achieve even half of what he has I’d be happy.”
Varndell is the third player to switch between Wasps and Leicester in recent seasons, after Ayoola Erinle and James Buckland.
He said: “I spoke to Ayoola and he had nothing but praise for Wasps, and I’m not going to let a rivalry stop me moving to a club.
“We’re playing Leicester just before and after Christmas and I expect a lot of jeering, but Wasps gave me an opportunity for a new challenge and I couldn’t wait to accept it.
“I’ve still got friends there, but they’re not team-mates now and I’m looking forward to developing new friendships here.
“There were five Wasps boys on the Saxons tour with me and I’ve played with some of them at age-group level so that got me on the front foot before training started.
“But it was still like the first day of school when I rocked up here. I didn’t get any ‘Leicester scum’ comments though.”
Varndell and his new team-mates flew off to Poland yesterday for a rigorous eight-day training camp at their base in the middle of a forest.
Weight training, conditioning and twice-daily sessions in -20deg C chambers will be their lot until next Friday.
Their first match is at Dax on August 13 before further warm-up games against Treviso and Glasgow.
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