Junior World Cup winner headlines trio of Harlequins re-signings

Harlequins have confirmed that highly-rated scrum-half Lucas Friday is among three top youngsters to pledge their futures to the club by signing long-term contracts to remain at The Stoop.

RugbyPass reported in August that the England U20 scrum-half had put pen to paper on a new three-year deal until 2029, and the club has now said he has been joined by Elliot Williams and Tate Williams in pledging their futures to the quarters.

Friday, 20, who was a Junior World Cup winner two years ago, has become a key performer for Quins, most notably playing 80 minutes in Harlequins’ memorable away victory over La Rochelle in the Champions Cup.

Lock Elliott Williams, 19, was part of the England squad that lost the bronze final in the World Rugby Junior World Championship last summer and made 12 first-team appearances for the club last season.

No.8 Tate Williams, another England U20 international, was part of Bath University’s BUCS Super Rugby treble-winning team in 2026 and made two appearances in the PREM Rugby Cup last season.

Quins boss Jason Gilmore acknowledged that the most successful teams in the club’s history have been driven by homegrown players, and that’s something they are striving to do again.

“I’m picturing them being, you know, two, three, or four years from now. Hopefully, they’re in a team that’s winning consistently. We’re winning trophies, and they’re going to play a really strong role in that.

“Something that is driven really strongly from the board down is that we want a homegrown team. And with the nursery that we’ve got, we’ve got no excuse not to keep our best players and to bring them through.

“And we’ve got to be brave to bring them through quickly as well, which I think we’re doing at the moment. And then if you do need to go outside of that, then you’re wanting to bring people in that are the competition’s best, like George Furbank,” Gilmore told RugbyPass.