RAFFI QUIRKE
“He is on the mend. He has had a successful operation on his scaphoid (a bone in the wrist), the same hand he broke a couple of years ago. It was the plate that restricted the movement that led to the break. They have now put a screw in his scaphoid which all but guarantees him that he will come back in the next six weeks.
“It is unfair and we have talked about that. It is not often that you play the victim of admit that sometimes life is s***. Often it is a part of the game. How you come through injuries will determine whether or not you have got the minerals to be in professional sport. That is not the case with Raffi. He has just been dealt blow after blow. He is not predisposed for injuries. He is certainly in condition. He has just had a terrible run of them and his luck will turn but right now he has to accept he has had a tough run of it.”
Fell back from a ruck and landed on his wrists for this injury
IMPACT OF THE NEW SIGNINGS
“Waisea [Nayacalevu] has given us a bit of a different dynamic in our attack. I thought we used Manu [Tuilagi] really well, in particular at the gain line. Waisea has got that as well, playing one out. He has got the ability to make the outside break, not that Manu hasn’t but that is just Waisea’s speciality with his offloading skills and getting his hands free. They are very similar in terms of their energy levels, good leaders. It is going to take a while to fill the Manu void but Waisea is certainly a long way down the road of doing it, which is what I hoped. Good person, not just a good player.
“Le Roux [Roets] is big enough to fill any void! He is in good form. His partner has come across from South Africa and they are now settled in Knutsford. He has been struggling with a few little niggles whilst he has been getting back to fitness. He has got a bit of work to do to make sure he can meet the demands that I and the Premiership requires him to do.
“Will [Addison] is a smarter man than me! Because of the injuries he has got this wise perspective of the game. He plays like a top-class player and thinks like a coach. He has got some really forward-thinking ideas around skill development so I am definitely going to spend more time around him and explore not only what he adds on the field but also how he can improve the programme on the training field.”
ASHER OPOKU-FORDJOUR
“We are very excited about Asher’s development. He has come back a little bit bigger, which is just his age. We have not tried to put any weight on him and he does not have an ounce of fat on him. We are in a position where we are a bit light on tightheads without Nick Schonert and WillGriff John at the moment. We are very fortunate to have Asher who can play well in that position. The way he moves, he can do things other tightheads cannot. I think there are quite a lot of looseheads out there who are as mobile as Asher is but very few tightheads. We are trying to make a very special player so my encouragement to him would be to look to stay on the tighthead. However I am not pigeonholing him. Thomas du Toit can play both sides at the highest level. If you have a player who is happy to do it and doesn’t mind switching across and doesn’t mess with their head, which it doesn’t with Asher, then we will coach him on both sides for his long-term career path but for our ends as well.
“He is a rare athlete, with a fast twitch. Looseheads are more like that. Very few looseheads have the weight or the core strength to anchor down the right-hand side of the scrum. He has got both which is what I was really impressed with last year. I foresee him dominating on the right of the scrum this season.”
WAISEA NAYACALEVU
“As you would expect from a captain of his country authority. When he speaks people listen and he has a calming influence, he settles the group. The players defer to him post-sessions. He is sticking close to some of the young lads, including Rekeiti Ma’asi-White. When Waisea had to sing at his initiation he got Rekeiti up to sing with him. They are always doing passing drills post-session. You can see his intent to bring the young lads through. He is so smiley. Waisea is a little more subtle than someone like Luke Cowan-Dickie, who you can hear from the other end of the corridor. His influence is felt universally in those little conversations. He is a welcome addition to the squad. He is consistently having positive interactions.”
INJURY UPDATE
Nick Schonert- October towards November, more likely the latter
WillGriff John- scheduled to be back around round four
Dan du Preez- scheduled to be back around round four
OTHER NEWS
Harlequins are a good team who are well coached, a little bit different to previous Quins teams, earning opportunities to attack rather than attacking from everywhere, very dangerous team in transition
Believes the squad depth is stronger, better than last season with youngsters like Ben Bamber, Tumy Onasanya, Alex Wills, Nye Thomas a year older and more experienced, emphasis on load managing to prevent number of injuries suffered last season
Feels like we have a burgeoning group of young internationals who can take off this season, excited for them
Sitting down with internationals to map out playing time and when they need to be rested, more emphasis on player welfare
Rekeiti Ma’asi-White has a rare talent of picking great line and power over the gain line, quite a quiet young lad, looking to unlock his ability to be more assertive, has the ability to be game-breaking, going to play on loan at Caldy a fair bit this season
How can we get the ball into the hands of George Ford more, more deception and soft shoulders,
Higher degree of trust and accountability from the players that has been taken from last season into this one, this year it has been player-led in terms of the narrative inside the dressing room going into the season, looking back at the language being used three-and-a-half-years ago when he joined as squad is very different now, used example of Alfred Nobel and how this squad want to look back on this period in the future, “restless bunch and realise opportunity his group has, they don’t want to waste this opportunity”
Attacking mindset shifted after the Six Nations last season
Fewer games means more access to internationals and better crowds, should be a good crowd on Sunday for the opener
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