Harlequins Women put down Toulon-esque marker
It has been a busy summer at Harlequins, with the likes of Stephan Lewies, Martin Landajo and Vereniki Goneva all making their way to the Stoop for the coming season.
For all the firepower the men’s side have recruited, though, it could well be Harlequins Women that has done the better businesses, raiding teams home and abroad for some of best and most promising players in the game.
Having made it to the final of the Tyrrells Premier 15s in the competition’s first two seasons, only to fall short to Saracens in both of those matches, Harlequins have pushed hard this summer to close the gap on their London rivals.
The first signing announced by the club was Giada Franco. The Italian openside is set to join the likes of Jade Konkel in the Harlequins back row and the Italian and Scottish internationals are capable of forming one of the most dynamic loose forward pairings in the competition.
Franco was key to Italy’s best ever Six Nations finish of second earlier this year, as she helped her side with impressive performances in the victories over Scotland, Ireland and France.
✍ And the new signings just keep on coming!
🃏 Welcome to Harlequins Women, @SEBeckett!
📲 Read the full story here: https://t.co/6bpDynIjEk #COYQ pic.twitter.com/bww1tgvstR
— Harlequins Women 🃏 (@HarlequinsWomen) July 31, 2019
Next up on the club’s shopping list was Amy Cokayne, the England hooker who is returning to the sport after taking a year away to complete her RAF training in 2018. Prior to that absence, Cokayne had proven herself to be one of the most destructive ball-carriers in the women’s game and is now set to compete with Irish international Leah Lyons and Davinia Catlin for the starting berth at the club.
Harlequins also snapped up Sarah Beckett from Firwood Waterloo following the 20-year-old’s breakout season with the England national team in 2018/19. Another powerful ball-carrier to complement Franco and Cokayne, Beckett’s transition from age-grade to senior rugby has been seamless over the past season and she will add yet further options to Quins’ enviable stock of loose forwards.
The club doubled down on exciting young English talent, too, bringing in Lagi Tuima from Bristol Bears for the 2019/20 season. Tuima made her debut for England back in 2017, although injuries have prevented her from adding to the five international caps she currently has. Comfortable at centre and full-back, Tuima could star alongside Rachel Burford in Quins’ midfield, or link up with Jess Breach in the back three.
🃏 We are excited to announce that we will play @RichmondFC1861 at The Twickenham Stoop to kick-off our 2019/20 @Premier15s campaign on Saturday 21st September (kick-off: 14:00).
📲 Read the full story here: https://t.co/RZrrUJuq2i #COYQ pic.twitter.com/nayRjAEzAF
— Harlequins Women 🃏 (@HarlequinsWomen) August 15, 2019
One factor that could keep Tuima in the midfield is the addition of Scottish international full-back Chloé Rollie, with the versatile back joining from Lille. Rollie’s versatility is no surprise, with the 30-capped back having previously played for Scotland Sevens alongside her commitments in XVs. A berth on the wing could materialise should Quins opt to use Emily Scott at 15, with the group’s interchangeability something that is sure to help them over the course of the season.
The club’s final signing was Ireland international Anna Caplice, who arrives from Munster. The flanker further stocks Quins’ back row and between herself, Beckett, Franco and Konkel, as well as Shaunagh Brown, if the England international isn’t being used in the front row, the club now boasts a dazzling array of international talent in their back row.
It has been a summer of recruitment reminiscent of those that Toulon enjoyed in the men’s game six or seven years ago where there was no end to the number of star names signed. Harlequins Women have now put down a marker in their bid to catch and overhaul Saracens in the Premier 15s, as well as showcasing the growing professional nature of the women’s game.
WATCH: Going Pro, the RugbyPass documentary with Saracens Women
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
27 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
27 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
27 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments