Harlequins Director of Rugby Conor O’Shea is aiming for Aviva Premiership glory with Harlequins this season, dismissing any suggestions of a mere title challenge.
Quins have made a strong start to the season, winning three of their opening five fixtures, including eye catching wins at Bath and at home to Wasps on the opening weekend.
Last time out in the league, Quins succumbed to an agonising defeat at Exeter’s Sandy Park, 26-25, with substitute Tim Swiel pushing a last gasp penalty just wide of the post with victory there for the taking.
Nevertheless, O’Shea’s troops have caught the eye with their early season form, also registering two comprehensive victories in the European Challenge Cup, seeing off Montpellier and Cardiff Blues with ease.
Speaking to LWOS, O’Shea said that a lot of thought and hard work is behind his side’s successful start, with the top brass at the club having convened to work out ways to improve after last season’s disappointing 8th placed finish.
“We’ve just gone back to basics, in terms of what we’re about. We said it towards the tail-end of last season. I never doubted it, we just had so many injuries that it was very hard in many ways to take what happened to us last year.
“We set out to be fit, to be robust, and we’ve come into it with a fit and robust squad who are willing to work hard for one another and that’s the starting point.
“Everyone knows what we’re like with ball in hand, we have to work the other side, which is the real hard work. That’s actually what will really win you things.
“We just want to be the hardest working team there is in this Premiership, and if we work harder than any other team, we’ll be a very hard team to play against.”
Ahead of this season, Harlequins brought in seasoned professionals with former Australian skipper James Horwill, Welsh centre Jamie Roberts and highly decorated tight-head Adam Jones all entering through the doors at the Stoop, alongside other shrewd purchases such as Scotland’s flying winger Tim Visser, Welsh prop Owen Evans and giant back-rower Mat Luamanu.
O’Shea has been delighted with the calibre of signings the club has made and feels it has given them a real chance to push on.
He said: “I’ll tell you, James (Horwill), Adam (Jones), Mat Luamanu, Owen Evans, all the new guys, the biggest thing is that they are just proper people, they have no ego about them whatsoever.
“It feels like James Horwill’s been here all his career, he’s just got so into what the club is about.
“You look around the dressing room and you see people and you know that you’re there. There’s a really nice vibe back into this group.
“We had a tough second half of last season but we’ve worked incredibly hard and we know we’re a good group of people, a good group of players, and if we work hard everything will look after itself, I’m really excited.”
With so many new arrivals, perhaps the biggest challenge has been getting the group to mix and gel into a team, but O’Shea recognises that this is a nice problem to have.
“Well that’s the biggest thing and it’s a great one because we have, when everyone is around, the most talented group of individuals we’ve had in my six years here, unequivocally we do, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best team.
“The team has to come together, and we’re working incredibly hard, I mean the bond is already there but they still have to know the little nuisances of how you run off each other, when someone floods how someone’s defending, and that will only come with time but it’s exciting.
“If you’re a Harlequins supporter, just think of the competition for places from fit players, because they weren’t fit last year a lot of them.
“We haven’t had as fit a squad for a long time and we have got some good players here, added to the fact that some players moving on has allowed us to bring in real quality.”
As well as some of the more high profile additions, the Rugby World Cup period allowed some of Harlequin’s younger players to stake a claim with the likes of Sam Twomey, Charlie Matthews, Kyle Sinckler, Harry Sloan and Jack Clifford all getting significant game time.
O’Shea feels that this youthful core will be as important as the experienced members of his squad if the team are to taste success this year.
He said: “It’s a great opportunity and our success this year will be determined by how the whole group goes.
“There’s an absolutely phenomenal season ahead for everybody and you think of the World Cup period, you think of the Six Nations period, and it’s a fabulous opportunity and I’m really excited and looking forward to how we’re going to approach this year.”
When asked what his ambitions for the season are, any suggestions of a title challenge were dismissed. O’Shea is out to win the league.
“We want to win the thing. We don’t want to challenge, we want to win it, we’re not here to do anything less so we’ll see.
“You have to take it game by game and it is a slog but this team is not going out to make up numbers.”
Main Photo
