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Feels so long since the last team announcement. Finally, first of the season:
HARLEQUINS HAS ANNOUNCED ITS SQUAD TO FACE BRISTOL BEARS ON FRIDAY 20 SEPTEMBER IN THE FIRST ROUND OF THE PREMIERSHIP RUGBY CUP AT THE STOOP.
With this fixture being the first of the season for the Club, Head of Rugby Paul Gustard will be looking to rotate his squad for the opening four Premiership Rugby Cup fixtures in order to give players the opportunity to gain match fitness and get some competitive meaningful game time.
Gustard, heading into his second season at Harlequins, has been pleased with the response of his players during pre-season in which he and his coaching staff have challenged the players to ‘move on up’ with a strong focus on their attacking play.
“The players returned to the Club following their off-season in great condition and more importantly with a determined and positive attitude to move our game forward. It is to their credit that they respected the programme, the Club, their teammates and mostly themselves to report back in such a way. I believe we have a really hungry, special group of players at the Club who are focused and driven to build on some decent foundations from last year.”
Rugby returns to The Stoop to open the 2019/20 campaign and Harlequins’ first team selection will see seven new recruits in the 23-man-squad, with Glen Young, Tom Lawday, Will Evans and Brett Herron all in the starting XV.
Hooker Max Crumpton captains the side for the season opener against his former employers which also sees Joe Marchant return to the line-up after his recent spell with England over the summer. The back three sees full-back Aaron Morris returning from a lengthy injury after an impressive pre-season and will be looking to showcase his talent and combine with the electric Gabriel Ibitoye and lightning fast Ross Chisholm. The match 23 also sees first year academy intake Louis Lynagh occupy a role as a Game Changer as he looks forward to making his competitive debut for the Quarters.
Harlequins Starting XV:
1 Nick Auterac (11 App.)
2 Max Crumpton (18 App) CAPTAIN
3 Phil Swainston (23 App.)
4 Glen Young (Debut)
5 Dino Lamb (16 App.)
6 Tom Lawday (Debut)
7 Will Evans (Debut)
8 James Chisholm (73 App.)
9 Niall Saunders (7 App.)
10 Brett Herron (Debut)
11 Gabriel Ibitoye (19 App.)
12 Ben Tapuai (22 App.)
13 Joe Marchant (80 App.)
14 Ross Chisholm (13 App.)
15 Aaron Morris (30 App.)
Game Changers:
16 Jack Musk (0 App.)
17 Santiago Garcia Botta (0 App.)
18 Simon Kerrod (0 App.)
19 Toby Freeman (0 App.)
20 Jack Clifford (98 App.)
21 Charlie Mulchrone (37 App.)
22 Francis Saili (24 App.)
23 Louis Lynagh (0 App.)
Not considered for selection:
Scott Baldwin
Renaldo Bothma
Mike Brown
Rob Buchanan
Danny Care
Will Collier
Alex Dombrandt
Nathan Earle
Elia Elia
Travis Ismaiel
Mark Lambert
James Lang
Stephan Lewies
Cadan Murley
Luke Northmore
Chris Robshaw
Marcus Smith
Matt Symons
Archie White
Rugby World Cup:
Michele Campagnaro
Tevita Cavubati
Vereniki Goneva
Semi Kunatani
Paul Lasike
Joe Marler
Kyle Sinckler -
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SQUAD NAMED FOR PREMIERSHIP CUP MATCH AGAINST BRISTOL BEARS
Thursday, 19th September 2019 @ 12:00
https://www.quins.co.uk/news/harlequins-squad-premiership-rugby-cup-round-1-v-bristol-bears-h
HARLEQUINS HAS ANNOUNCED ITS SQUAD TO FACE BRISTOL BEARS ON FRIDAY 20 SEPTEMBER IN THE FIRST ROUND OF THE PREMIERSHIP RUGBY CUP AT THE STOOP.
With this fixture being the first of the season for the Club, Head of Rugby Paul Gustard will be looking to rotate his squad for the opening four Premiership Rugby Cup fixtures in order to give players the opportunity to gain match fitness and get some competitive meaningful game time.
Gustard, heading into his second season at Harlequins, has been pleased with the response of his players during pre-season in which he and his coaching staff have challenged the players to ‘move on up’ with a strong focus on their attacking play.
“The players returned to the Club following their off-season in great condition and more importantly with a determined and positive attitude to move our game forward. It is to their credit that they respected the programme, the Club, their teammates and mostly themselves to report back in such a way. I believe we have a really hungry, special group of players at the Club who are focused and driven to build on some decent foundations from last year.”
Rugby returns to The Stoop to open the 2019/20 campaign and Harlequins’ first team selection will see seven new recruits in the 23-man-squad, with Glen Young, Tom Lawday, Will Evans and Brett Herron all in the starting XV.
Hooker Max Crumpton captains the side for the season opener against his former employers which also sees Joe Marchant return to the line-up after his recent spell with England over the summer. The back three sees full-back Aaron Morris returning from a lengthy injury after an impressive pre-season and will be looking to showcase his talent and combine with the electric Gabriel Ibitoye and lightning fast Ross Chisholm. The match 23 also sees first year academy intake Louis Lynagh occupy a role as a Game Changer as he looks forward to making his competitive debut for the Quarters.
Harlequins Starting XV:
1 Nick Auterac (11 App.)
2 Max Crumpton (18 App) CAPTAIN
3 Phil Swainston (23 App.)
4 Glen Young (Debut)
5 Dino Lamb (16 App.)
6 Tom Lawday (Debut)
7 Will Evans (Debut)
8 James Chisholm (73 App.)
9 Niall Saunders (7 App.)
10 Brett Herron (Debut)
11 Gabriel Ibitoye (19 App.)
12 Ben Tapuai (22 App.)
13 Joe Marchant (80 App.)
14 Ross Chisholm (13 App.)
15 Aaron Morris (30 App.)
Game Changers:
16 Jack Musk (0 App.)
17 Santiago Garcia Botta (0 App.)
18 Simon Kerrod (0 App.)
19 Toby Freeman (0 App.)
20 Jack Clifford (98 App.)
21 Charlie Mulchrone (37 App.)
22 Francis Saili (24 App.)
23 Louis Lynagh (0 App.)
Not considered for selection:
Scott Baldwin
Renaldo Bothma
Mike Brown
Rob Buchanan
Danny Care
Will Collier
Alex Dombrandt
Nathan Earle
Elia Elia
Travis Ismaiel
Mark Lambert
James Lang
Stephan Lewies
Cadan Murley
Luke Northmore
Chris Robshaw
Marcus Smith
Matt Symons
Archie White
Rugby World Cup:
Michele Campagnaro
Tevita Cavubati
Vereniki Goneva
Semi Kunatani
Paul Lasike
Joe Marler
Kyle Sinckler -
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D'oh - WellingQuin got in there milliseconds before I did
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Both clearly excited about the first team announcement of the season :)
Admin - feel free to delete the topic I made. -
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Can't read much into team selections for these games but good to see some of the new guys getting a run out.
Lengthly injury list, if we take "not considered" to be injured -
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Ross Chisholm has been injured a lot, but 13 appearances?
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Should read 103, according to his Bio on the Offy.
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That is a squad of 49 players, seems a lot I thought PG was trying to reduce numbers, but some great players there old and young. Can't wait COYQ
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Bristol Bears team to face Harlequins at the Twickenham Stoop on Friday, September 20th (7.45pm KO):
15. Mat Protheroe; 14. Tom Pincus, 13. Sam Bedlow, 12. Tiff Eden, 11. Toby Fricker; 10. Ian Madigan, 9. Harry Randall; 1. Yann Thomas, 2. Shaun Malton, 3. Max Lahiff, 4. Aly Muldowney, 5. Ed Holmes, 6. James Dun, 7. Jake Heenan (c), 8. Joe Batley.
Replacements: 16. Will Capon, 17. Ollie Dawe, 18. Nicky Thomas, 19. John Hawkins, 20. George Kloska, 21. Nic Stirzaker, 22. Harry Ascherl, 23. Jack Bates. -
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Lengthly injury list, if we take "not considered" to be injured
There's no reason to think that.QuoteThat is a squad of 49 players, seems a lot I thought PG was trying to reduce numbers
There are some academy players in there. -
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Really excited to see the first team announcement of the season! It has been a long summer!!!
The back line looks particularly strong with first choice centres Marchant and Tapuai, and Sailli off the bench. Morris, Ibitoye and Chisholm also know what they are doing. Saunders is good and it will be interesting to see how Herron gets on. Looks like a pretty strong and exciting back division.
Up front, the front row is solid. I think Crumpton is terrific and was our best Hooker last season. The second row is fine and, again, I am really looking forward to seeing how Evans and Lawday get on. James Chisholm is quality!
To be honest, I am just excited to be back at the Stoop watching the boys! It will be a fun night!!! -
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That is a squad of 49 players, seems a lot I thought PG was trying to reduce numbers, but some great players there old and young. Can't wait COYQ
Think the squad reduction thing is more of a long term view. There will still be players with contracts running from before Gussy came on board - so he'll be waiting for those contracts to end to really mould the squad in his image. A case in point, I would say, is the recruitment of Freeman on a 1-year deal. Those types of signings, I believe, are about bulking out the squad up to cap limit for this season, until more contracts run their course and at the end of this season Gussy will be looking at getting the numbers down and quality up even more. As I used the example of Freeman, if he excels this season and earns himself another contract then Gussy might be more inclined to feel that he has second row covered and can spend big elsewhere. Personally I think we'll see a big name player come into the second row next season and trim away 2 players in that position to make way. But if, for the sake of argument, Freeman were to really impress then Gussy could readily say, "okay, we'll save on the cap in that area then and go grab ourselves a [insert priority here] instead".
TL;DR: I think the general plan to get the squad down to the size he wants will take a couple more seasons.
Think this squad looks like it could put on quite a show tomorrow night - good blend of new and established players and tonnes of pace. More experience than I expected to see too. Can't wait! -
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Second this!
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Strong team
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Looking forward to seeing the new names. Surprised that Chis Jr isn't captain, rather than Crumpton.
Good to see Lynagh on the teamsheet. I may be mistaken but wasn't there a thread about the academy a while back, where a poster suggested that Lynagh didn't look good enough to progress? Will be interesting to see how he gets on, if he gets on. -
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