NEC Harlequins
Club Details
Twickenham Stoop Stadium
Langhorn Drive
Twickenham
Middlesex
TW2 7SX
Stadium Capacity: 12,700 (10,000 seated)
Website: www.quins.co.uk
Founded: 1866
- 2006/7 Season Preview -
Last time around: The great Harlequins were thrust down to National League One for 2005/06 and bounced straight back up. They simply waltzed through the lower league and may just be stronger than ever. Imagine Harlequins being relegated! They will want to be sure that no humiliation like that happened to them ever again. In their period of embarrassment, the club remained positive and attendance at The Stoop actually increased, such was the determination to get back. They lost just one match in the season - 13-8 to Exeter Chiefs. A sign of their optimism while down a league was to build the Lexus Stand along the west side of the Stoop and increase its capacity to 12,700.
This time? They played friendlies before the season started, but they were not promising with defeats at the hands of Bourgoin, Clermont Auvergne and the Ospreys. That does not augur well for the Premiership season and yet one cannot imagine that they will slip back. They have Stuart Abbott from Wasps, who may just be the best inside-centre in England, and another South African in Haldane Luscombe from Newport. The two were at the same school where Luscombe was more of an outside-centre than a wing which is where Wales have largely used him. Plus there is promising scrum-half Danny Care. And they will again be well supported.
Coach: Harlequins have a newish coach in Dean Richards, whose recent career has been chequered. After great and successful seasons with Leicester Tigers, the powerful, unyielding forward, was booted out in the Rugby World Cup year when seven Tigers were away and were not the same force on their return. His chum John Wells then stepped up as the coach. Richards then got a job at Grenoble, enjoyed the skiing and watched his side fall apart and get relegated. Now he is back at a well-tuned club with some money in the bank.
Captain: Flank Paul Volley has come back to England, joined Harlequins and been made captain. He had many great seasons at Wasps before going to Castres and the tough French Top 14. The club persuaded André Vos to play for another season and doubtless he will give Volley full support. Vos is actually younger than the man who has replaced him. Volley, who played for England 'A' and England Under-21, turns 35 in November and is not new to captaincy. He is also not new to success having been part of the Wasps side that won the Premiership and the Heineken Cup in 2003.
One to watch: At the opposite end of the time line from Volley is Danny Care - born in Leeds on January 2, 1987 and a halfback of great promise. A promising soccer player, he opted for rugby and has played for England at age-group level and at Sevens, winning a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games. Still at school, he was already playing for Leeds Tykes and getting extra lessons from Justin Marshall, whom he replaced against Saracens last September. Apart from Youth Sevens and Senior Sevens, he has been an outstanding player for England at U19 and U21 levels. He has signed a three-year contract with Harlequins who are delighted to have a scrum-half of class - and he can play fly-half as well.
Final 2006/7 league position prediction: 11th
totalbet.com prediction (29/8): 50-1 to finish first
In: Stuart Abbott (London Wasps), Haldane Luscombe (Dragons), Paul Volley and Nicolas Spanghero (Castres), David Strettle and Chris Hala'ufia (Rotherham Earth Titans), Olly Kohn (Bristol ), Peter Cook (Nottingham), Will Skinner and James Richards (Leicester Tigers), Danny Care (Leeds Tykes), Andy Dunne (Bath), Mike Ross (Cork Constitution).
Out: Will Greenwood and Tony Diprose (retired), Ian Vass (Northampton Saints), Pablo Bouza (Leeds Tykes), Kevin Burke (London Welsh), Darren Clayton (Coventry), Duncan James, Agustín Costa Repetto, Kiba Richards, Mike Worsley, Henry Barratt (Cambourne Cornish Pirates).
Colours: Green, mauve, brown, blue and grey shirts.
Tickets: £5-30
Travel Connections: The Stoop Memorial ground is on the A316, about 3 miles from the M3 end as you approach London, and on the A312 southbound from junction 3 of the M4. But there is a train station, 10 minutes walk away, and with trains running to London Waterloo every ten minutes or so. The traffic around the ground on matchday is so bad that the train is by far the easiest way to get there.
