The Core Squad 2005/6
By Prof
May 20 2005
So now we know what the core of the Quins squad will be for next season, The vast majority of players have been retained which is a testament to the spirit in the squad and also to the management.
The press have seemed to be delighting whenever a player left Quins to join a Premiership club phrases like 'mass exodus from The Stoop' have been regularly used but now we can see the truth of it all. Twelve first team squad players have not been retained and of those only five have played more than a handful of games for Quins this season. One of that five, Jon Dawson, had already signed for London (sic) Wasps before relegation.
It also seems that only three players and one coach have left whilst still in contract - Maurice Fitz Gerald, Dafydd James, Jeremy Staunton and Paul Turner.
So not for Quins the mass exodus that followed Bristol's relegation from the top rank when they lost the majority of their senior players (Archer, Christophers, Contempomi, Drahm, Gibson, Payne, Pichot, Sheridan and White to name just a few).
The signing of Dean Richards as the new Director of Rugby and the retention of the senior players Tony Diprose, Will Greenwood and André Vos as captain and John Kingston as forwards coach raised the spirits of Quins supporters last week. This week's news that another 18 players were staying is a great morale boost.
There are an additional ten players in the Harlequins Academy next season who will be training with the first team squad and with Richards' declaration that he wants to make good use of the youngsters we should be seeing a fair amount of them too.With rumours of a number of new signings to follow including the much talked about Andrew Mehrtens the squad looks very strong for next season, and it will need to be when one looks at the signings being made by some of our ND1 rivals for next season.
The core of the squad will be:
| Prop: | Ceri Jones, Mike Worsley, Alex Rogers (A) |
| Hooker: | Tani Fuga, James Hayter |
| Lock: | Jim Evans, Simon Miall, Karl Rudzki, George Robson (A), James Ingliss (A) |
| Back Row: | Tony Diprose, Nick Easter, Tom Guest, Luke Sherriff, Andre Vos, Daren Clayton(A), Chris Robshaw (A) |
| Scrum Half: | Duncan James (A), Steven So'oialo |
| Fly Half: | Adrian Jarvis |
| Centre: | Mel Deane, Will Greenwood, Jordan Turner-Hall (A), Tosh Masson (A) |
| Wing: | Henry Barratt, George Harder, Simon Keogh, Ugo Monye, Kiba Richards (A) |
| Fullback: | Gavin Duffy, Tom Williams, Charlie Amesbury (A), Mike Brown (A) |
(A) denotes an Academy player
Best of luck to the players who are leaving Harlequins, thank you for everything you have done for the club while you have been with us. To those members of staff who are leaving, thank you all too, you have done a fantastic job.
To those who are staying: thank you gentlemen. Here's to the future of our great club.