The twelve players joining Harlequins next season
Harlequins have confirmed all twelve players that will join the club ahead of the 2019/20 season.
Santiago Garcia Botta (Prop) – Jaguares
The powerful scrummager, who has 33 international caps, will join the Club after the World Cup in Japan, if selected, later this year. The 26-year-old currently plays for Jaguares and was part of the Argentina squad that reached the World Cup semi-finals in 2015.
Scott Baldwin (Hooker) – Ospreys
The Wales international said he was delighted to be joining Harlequins after 10 years with Ospreys, where he has made over 120 appearances.
Michele Campagnaro (Centre) – Wasps
The strong, ball-carrying Centre, who can also cover wing, was a member of the Exeter Chiefs squad who won the Premiership in the 2016/17 season and is currently playing his rugby with Wasps. The 26-year-old represented Italy in the recent Six Nations campaign and to date has amassed 42 caps for Italy and scored nine tries for his country.
Will Evans (Flanker) – Leicester Tigers
Openside flanker Evans enjoyed a stellar rise through the ranks at Leicester in the closing stages of the 2015/16 season, making his senior debut for Leicester Tigers and then going to the World Under-20s Championships with England who reached the final and was then deservedly named in the competition dream team.
Evans, 22, earned international recognition at four age-group levels as he progressed through the Tigers academy. He made his Premiership debut against Gloucester at Welford Road in April 2016 and made three more appearances that season, including in the semi-final at Saracens. He was a member of England’s senior EPS squad of 45 back in 2016 at the tender age of 19.
Toby Freeman (Lock) – Cornish Pirates
The 31-year-old, who started his career in Cornwall and then went on to play for Rotherham and Nottingham, has been a mainstay of the Pirates team since his return there in 2017. He is an experienced campaigner, having played over 100 games in the Championship and brings a wealth of experience with him to Harlequins.
Brett Herron (Fly-half) – Jersey Reds
The 23-year-old, who can also provide cover at Fullback, is a product of the prestigious rugby school Wellington College, and made his debut for Bath United in 2014 before moving to for Ulster where he made eight appearances.
Herron then joined Jersey Reds last season and, having put in an eye-catching performance against Harlequins in last summer’s pre-season fixture between the clubs, has been a stand-out player for the Channels Islands’ side all season scoring over 100 points in 21 matches as they have risen to third in the Greene King Championship.
Simon Kerrod (Prop) – Worcester Warriors
The Tighthead prop joined Worcester from Jersey Reds at the start of the 2017/18 season having previously represented Sharks and Eastern Province Kings in South Africa. Kerrod, 26, was born in Johannesburg and has previously been selected in a South Africans Barbarian team, but is English-qualified.
Martin Landajo (Scrum-half) – Jaguares
The 30-year-old, who is one of his country’s most capped internationals with 84 appearances and was part of the Argentina squad which reached the semi-finals of the 2015 World Cup, will complement Danny Care’s skill-set and provide another level of leadership across the squad.
Tom Lawday (Number Eight) – Exeter Chiefs
The powerful Number eight, who is currently with Exeter Chiefs, is a former BUCS player of the season and has represented England Students. Lawday, who capped his final year at the University of Exeter with that BUCS award and as top try-scorer in BUCS Super Rugby in 2016/17, joined the Chiefs that summer.
Stephan Lewies (Lock) – Lions
South African international Lewies, 27, is currently on loan with Lions but played the majority of his career in South Africa with Sharks, where he made 80 appearances having made his way up through the ranks, playing in the Currie Cup aged 21 in 2013. His outstanding performances the following year meant that he was immediately recognised as a special talent and was called up to the Springbok squad, earning his first Test cap against Scotland at only 22 when he replaced Victor Matfield in a 55–6 win over Scotland in Port Elizabeth.
Luke Northmore (Centre) – Cardiff Met
Northmore, who can play at either 12 or 13, played his early rugby at Tavistock RFC, and has been a consistent performer for the university side for the past three years. He is a close friend of Harlequins’ breakout player this season Alex Dombrandt, with whom he played at Cardiff Met.
Glen Young (Lock) – Newcastle Falcons
Second row Young, who has represented Scotland U20s, has been with Newcastle since he played for their U18s in 2012/13. Two years later he broke into the First Team and represented his country’s U20 side seven times. He played the 2015/16 season on dual registration with Doncaster Knights and was named in the Championship Dream Team that season, having made the play-off final. Young made his Premiership debut the following season and played a big part in Newcastle’s Challenge Cup campaign.
Comments on RugbyPass
It will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
1 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to comments