Last season was tough for Harlequins, their squad was ravaged by injuries and ultimately they fell short when it came to the Aviva Premiership and the European competitions. However after strong recruitment and positive few months of pre-season training Conor O'Shea cannot wait for the start of the 2015/16 campaign;
“When everyone is around we are going to have the most talented group of individuals that we have had in my 6 years here at the Club, unequivocally. However that doesn’t mean that it is the best team, the team has to come together. We are working incredibly hard, the bond is already there but they still have to know the little nuances of how you run off each other, when someone is defending etc. and that will only come with time."
"But it is exciting, if you are a Harlequins supporter and you think of the competition for places, from fit players that weren’t fit last year and new signings, then we are in a pretty good place. There's a really, really good atmosphere around the club right now.”
Harlequins are a side that play off confidence and the long pre-season will have benefitted them greatly as it will have distanced the memories of the times during last season when they couldn’t find their mojo for love nor money.
By all accounts Conor O’Shea has recruited well, he has plugged a few gaps that were in his squad and has delivered individuals of the right level of experience to boost the leadership. The trio of James Horwill, Adam Jones and Jamie Roberts have over two hundred international test caps to their names and their impact will be felt both on and off the field.
Conor O'Shea's man management is first class and he will manage his international's reintroduction to domestic rugby appropriately. I expect that new Club Captain Danny Care will want to throw himself straight back in and understanding the character that Mike Brown is he will wish to do the same to cope with the emotions of the World Cup. Joe Marler is one that I know less well and as for Chris Robshaw who would blame him if he took a little longer to come back given the intensity of the spotlight that has shone on him for the past few months.
“Ultimately you don’t know where you are until you start the season, I’ve always called it the honeymoon everyone feels that they are brilliant at this stage of the season. But what I will say is that we haven’t had a squad as fit as this for a long, long time and we have got some very good players here.”
Conor O’Shea has been around for long enough to know that you can have the best pre-season in the world and still stumble when it comes to the first few rounds of the campaign however the feeling is that Harlequins are in a good place heading into the 2015/16 domestic competition. Missing out on the European Champions Cup was a blow, however as is the case with Gloucester, this could assist them given the unrelenting nature of the 2015/16 schedule. Right now, all the signs point to a positive and productive domestic campaign for Harlequins.
Players In - James Horwill from Queensland Reds, Adam Jones from Cardiff Blues, Tim Visser from Edinburgh Rugby, Owen Evans from Newport Gwent Dragons, Tim Sweil from Sharks, Winston Stanley from Highlanders & Jamie Roberts from Racing 92
Players Out - Paul Doran-Jones to Gloucester Rugby, Joe Trayfoot to London Irish, George Robson to Oyonnax, Ugo Monye (Retired), Asaeli Tikoirotuma to London Irish, Darryl Marfo to London Welsh, Tom Williams (Retired), Tom Casson to Yorkshire Carnegie & Jordan Burns to Bedford Blues
