11:55am Wednesday 21st July 2010
By Stuart Amos
Former Quins hooker Tani Fuga has revealed fans will get their first glimpse of the club’s new signings at his long-awaited Testimonial clash.
The match-up with a Southern Hemisphere All_Star squad, will see director of rugby Conor O’Shea name a full-strength starting line-up for the match on August 6 - the first of only three pre-season warm-up games for his new look squad.
St Helens rugby league star Maurie Fa'asavalu, whose signature was confirmed last week, will not be involved as he will only join up with his new club in October following shoulder surgery.
But Fuga expects hooker Joe Gray, back row Peter Browne, scrum-half David Moore, centre Ollie Smith and Argentinian Benjamin Urdapilleta to play a full-part.
Quins old boys Rob Jewell, Mel Deane, Simon Maill and Roy Winters will be on hand to honour the 37-year-old, as will London Irish quartet Chris Hala’ufia, Elvis Seveali'i, George Stowers and Seilala Mapusua.
Fuga will not be taking part himself as he recovers from a ruptured achilles, but he expects his men to give his former team mates a tough examination.
“Quins only have two more pre-season games after this one and Conor has promised he will be taking it pretty seriously,” he said.
“Most of the news signings will get at least a 20 minute run-out and he is going to start with strong side.
“We’ll give them a very good game for 40 minutes and hopefully the fact we will have a 35-man squad with rolling subs, should make it really competitive.
“I’m gutted I can’t play, because it would have been nice to put it about a bit in what will be a good match.”
Fa'asavalu’s arrival will bolster an already formidable Quins back row, which comprises of an all English cohort of Nick Easter, Chris Robshaw, Will Skinner, Tom Guest and young guns Chris York, Joe Trayfoot and Luke Wallace.
The Samoan international was one of the stars of his side’s 2003 Rugby World Cup campaign prompting him to make the cross-code switch to Saints, where he went on to become a Great Britain international.
And O’Shea is expecting big things from the powerful 30-year-old.
“Having a player of his talent and ability will be a great asset to Quins,” he added.
“I have no doubt that he will be able to make an immediate impact on returning to union.
“He will bring experience and a new dimension to our options and is exactly the type of person we want at this club.”
Quins new look squad for 2010/11:
Props.
Ceri Jones, James Johnston, Joe Marler, John Andress, Mark Lambert.
Hookers.
Chris Brooker, Matt Cairns, Joe Gray.
Locks.
Peter Browne, Ollie Kohn, James Percival, Lewis Stevenson, George Robson, Tomas Valejos.
Back Row.
Nick Easter, Maurie Fa'asavalu, Tom Guest, Chris Robshaw, Will Skinner, Chris York.
Scrum Halves.
Danny Care, Karl Dickson, David Moore.
Outside Halves.
Rory Clegg, Nick Evans.
Centres.
Tom Casson, George Lowe, Ollie Smith, Jordan Turner-Hall, Benjamin Urdapilleta.
Back Three.
Mike Brown, Gonzalo Camacho, Ugo Monye, Sam Smith, Seb Stegmann, Tom Williams.
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.surreycomet.co.uk/trade_directory/