Quins have lined up three pre season friendlies against Premiership opposition over the next three consecutive weekends.

There has been a huge amount of activity at Harlequins since the end of April. All of which has been well documented analysed and discussed in great detail elsewhere on this site and recently reviewed, very succinctly by Artemis in his “ Mid -Close Season Review”.

Harlequins have kept the bulk of their squad from last season, although there have been a few notable departures including Andy Dunne, Jeremy Staunton, Roy Winters and Andy Reay and dare I say it a few who were perhaps not so notable. Essentially the same team that got us into the current situation should be more than capable of getting us out of it. The squad and coaching staff have been strengthened and many supporters eagerly await Andrew Mehrtens in the quartered shirt. Personally, I’m more excited by the arrival of scrum half, Ian Vass. In the past, Vass has had to play second fiddle to Dawson at Northampton and Pichot at Stade Francais and last year gained first division experience with Bedford. He has great potential to shine with Harelquins.

There are going to be some tough matches facing us in Division One but I m confident that our journey this season will be satisfying and very rewarding.

Harlequins v London Irish:- August 12^th ko 19.45 The Stoop, Twickenham

Harlequins kick off their 2005/2006 campaign with a match against their old rivals London Irish atThe Stoop, Twickenham on Friday at 19.45. On their last meeting at The Stoop, the Irish effectively sealed Quins fate of Division one rugby. It was a game that both sides had to win, and the Irish obviously wanted I more coming out 25-20 winners at the final whistle. This was the only match last season for which a match report on CAW was not filed. Incidentally they are plenty of vacancies still for the coming season, please contact Prof. That result gave London Irish the double last season. Ironically perhaps we should have read the signs on the opening day of the season when they won 18-12, Quins Waterloo!

Much has changed at The Stoop, Twickenham since April and re- visiting London Irish fans will be able to marvel at the almost completed Lexus Stand, and wonder how a rugby ground need not look like a car park. The new stand, however, will not open until September 17^th. After the unfortunate incident in the South Stand that day, the flooring has been completely replaced and I understand that the floor of the East Stand bar has also been especially padded for this match.

London Irish have made a number of new signings during the summer in a bid to strengthen their squad. Although it was Harlequins who succumbed in the end, London Irish too, languished in the lower half of the table for most of the season and were one of six teams who could have been relegated back on April 30^th. As well as loosing their head coach, Irish have also parted company with Appleford, Reid, and “Tofty” amongst others and of course, via London Welsh, Kevin Burke who has joined Harlequins in the second row. Their most notable new signing is of course Olivier Magne, signed from Montferrand. Olivier will have unhappy memories of playing at the Madjeski Stadium, as the last time he played there, his team was beaten in the last minute of the match :o). The majority of their new signings are overseas players, although strangely none from Ireland. New internees include Dan Coetzee from South Africa, the aptly named Michael Collins, Riki Flutey and ex Quin Ben Willis from New Zealand along with prop Juan Leguizamon from Argentina and Australian League centre Paul Franze.

NEC Harlequins have selected a 25-man squad, summer signing Andrew Mehrtens, along with Will Greenwood, will be amongst the replacements, though both are expected to feature at some stage during the match that will be contested over three 30 minute periods.

Ian Vass, Jimmy Richards and Ricky Nebbett are all in the starting XV, while fellow summer signings Aston Croall, Kevin Burke and Pablo Bouza are on the bench.

Academy players Mike Brown (full back), Kiba Richards (wing) and James Inglis (second row) will be in action from the start, with Tosh Masson (centre) and George Robson (second row) both set to feature at some stage during the game.

The full squad is as follows:

15. Mike Brown
14. George Harder
13. Henry Barratt
12. Mel Deane
11. Kiba Richards
10. Adrian Jarvis
9. Ian Vass
1. Ceri Jones
2. Jimmy Richards
3. Ricky Nebbett
4. James Inglis
5. Simon Miall
6. Nick Easter
7. Andre Vos (Capt.)
8. Tony Diprose

Replacements:
Tosh Masson
Andrew Mehrtens
Aston Croall
James Hayter
Kevin Burke
George Robson
Pablo Bouza
Darren Clayton
Will Greenwood
Duncan James

*NB – Tickets for this game can be purchased at the Stoop on the night, with the ticket office opening at 6.00pm.

Tickets cost £10 for adults and £5 for all concessions (OAP’s, Under 16’s and Students). The price for Quins Season Ticket holders and Members is £5, while Mighty Quins members and OAP Season Ticket holders can watch this match free of charge.

The 'London' 'Irish' 36 man squad will be as follows:
15. Delon Armitage/John Holtby
14. Justin Bishop/Nick Canty
13. Dominic Feau’nati/Charlie Gower
12. Mike Catt (captain)/Shane Geraghty
11. Scott Staniforth/Topsy Ojo
10. Barry Everitt/Ross Laidlaw
9. Ben Willis/Darren Edwards
1. Neal Hatley/Michael Collins
2. Adrian Flavin/David Paice
3. Rob Hardwick/Richard Skuse
4. Bob Casey/Gary Johnson
5. Kieran Roche/Ryan Strudwick
6. Olivier Magne/Paul Gustard
7. Kieron Dawson/Declan Danaher
8. Phil Murphy/Juan Manuel Leguizamon


Replacements:
16. Doug Wheatley
17. Tom Warren
18. Matthew Banahan
19. Richard Thorpe
20. Paul Hodgson
21. Matt Humphries

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