Q: Andre, you were very quick at the end of last season to sign up for this season, do you think there’s a lot collectively and individually to redeem yourselves for after what occurred here last season?

AV: Yes, sure, we have to take that responsibility on ourselves it was a year that was very disappointing on the pitch and we have to make sure we right the wrongs of last year. I am sure you heard Dean, it matters how we play this year as well, we want to have the structure in place to take things forward, and when we do get back up we need to be able to be a competitive side, that’s what we’re going to strive for this year. It’s going to be a great time for some of the young guys to have an opportunity that perhaps they wouldn’t have had if we’d been in the Premiership. To really build a team is what we’re striving for this season. But it is a responsibility that we all take very seriously.

Q: Did the way Carter played in the first test assure you that you wouldn’t get back into the All Blacks team?

AM: He played pretty well didn’t he? [smiles] I think every player when they finish up thinks it’s nice to be missed so I need to experience that [laughs]. He is a fantastic player and having played alongside him, which I enjoyed, I found it to be a privilege to play alongside a guy who is ten years younger than you and shows you respect for goodness knows what reason – the guy’s got everything, he’s one of the most skilled sportspeople you’ll ever find and I did think he went really, really well in the Lions series. He’s a guy who’s going to get targeted by other teams but he’s resilient enough and skilful enough to handle that and hand out plenty himself. He’s probably already scored more tries than I did! He’s playing fantastically and I wasn’t really getting consistent start time with the Crusaders – but that wasn’t what forced me to go, I could have stayed in New Zealand. There were a number of factors that led to me coming here the least of which certainly wasn’t the fact that I could live a more balanced life over here and do more things and probably enjoy life outside rugby a lot more.

Q: Will it be a failure if you’re over here on a two year trip and don’t get to play premiership rugby?

AM: It depends, if my performances haven’t been up to it then I’ll consider it a failure and I think that if Harlequins don’t get into the Premiership then the club will see that as a failure. We don’t want to put pressure on ourselves results-wise but performance-wise we certainly want to put pressure on ourselves. There are a lot of people expecting promotion and quite rightly too, after all we’ve got a good team, we’ve got a good squad. I think the Premiership was a close race, certainly below the top three last year with any team being able to beat any other team. If we play to our potential I think everyone would  see it as a failure if we weren’t able to go up. That’s not to say we’ll walk into every game thinking right it’s just going to happen for us today. We’re going to respect every team, give it everything and judge ourselves on our performances as individuals and as a team and, hopefully, the results will come.

Q: Why did you pick Quins, presumably you’ve had other offers over the years from other English clubs?

AM: No I’ve never really had any other formal offers, there’s always been talk of this and that but I’ve never pursued any of them. This opportunity just sort of hit me and I just thought this is what I want to be doing. I was aware of Harlequins, a lot of famous players have come through the Harlequins club and a few New Zealanders as well, but I’d be lying if I said I already knew all the guys who played here. Once I’d signed up and stuff I ran into people in New Zealand who said Stu Wilson and guys like that had played over here – I’m not sure if it’s good to be following in his footsteps or not [laughs]. Stu Wilson and Bernie Fraser were great All Blacks so there is a history of New Zealanders coming to Harlequins and enjoying it and I’m proud to be part of that history.

Q: Have you spoken to Carlos and Justin since you’ve been over here?

AM: No, I’ve left messages for Justin but he’s too busy doing his Premiership ads, his face is everywhere! I’ve tried to catch up, he’s in London this weekend at the Double Header but we may not be able to catch up because we’ll be up in Solihull of course. He’s enjoying it up in Leeds from his message but I haven’t had a chance to talk to him yet. We’ll sit down over a beer some time. I haven’t heard what’s happening up at Northampton yet. I guess you keep an eye on all the other kiwis over here, you look though the teams. I’m looking through the other ND1 teams looking for New Zealanders particularly big, hard hitting, Island inside centres that I may come up against!

Q: Were you surprised that there was such a big difference between the Lions and New Zealand this summer?

AM: Not really, the All Blacks have been building up to this for two years it’s been the pinnacle probably of the last decade considering we haven’t won a World Cup. This was a chance, especially post England World Cup, to put ourselves back on the map, because for a long time we’ve been seen as a team that was almost there but not quite. At the same time I think it’s more and more difficult for a team that’s made up of a mixture of players to play against an international team. I was talking to Will about this the other day with Will, it’s the same as the Barbarians, it’s a great notion and a great concept but it’s hard to get a bunch of players together for a short period of time and expect them to develop combinations that are going to stand up against top international teams. So I think the Lions were up against it and, for whatever reason, I don’t think they performed as well as they could have or as well as they would have liked. So all in all it was a pretty tough series for them.

That was the end of the press conference and from now on the talking would have to be done on the pitches of ND1…

View a Printer Friendly version of this Story.

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon