The magnificent 7

14 April 2012

Ugo Monye, already tipped for rugby stardom as England's express wing-inwaiting, is merely the forerunnerof a remarkable new generation of talented youngsters fast emerging at Harlequins.

And the spectacular success of Quins' dedicated youth policy will be on show at The Stoop tonight, when most of the club's seven players who won selection last week for the England Under-21 squad will be involved against the visiting Natal Sharks Super 12 team.

No fewer than six of the seven play in the backs: Monye, Chris Bell, Andy Reay, Adrian Jarvis, Henry Barratt and Tom Williams. Tom Parker is the solitary forward in a Quins septet who are to attend a two-day camp at Worcester next week ahead of an Under-21 Six Nations tournament which runs alongside the senior version.

Monye, 20, said: "Such a fantastic recognition for Harlequins is testament to how well the club's Academy and junior sections are working. With six of us backs chosen, in particular, it might just be worth hanging around at Quins for a while! We should have quite a back line in a few years' time.

"I've been particularly fortunate to get a good number of games in the Harlequins first team already, as has Chris Bell, and hopefully all seven of us will soon have that opportunity to play a lot of senior rugby. Andy Reay and Adrian Jarvis have also had a little taste of it but, in the meantime, the game against Natal is a great chance for us to show the management what we can do against quality opposition."

Tony Russ, the Harlequins Academy director, is in no doubt about the reasons why such a fine crop of young talent has appeared together.

"Some clubs go in for cherry-picking but we are the only senior club left in London who continue to run full-time Under-19, Under-21 and second teams. This England selection is very encouragingfor us all at Quins, and it reflects the effort and commitment that is being put into youth development. That is a policy which comes all the way down from Mark Evans, the chief executive, and it shows how extra funding in these areas can bring its reward.

"The Academy is only in its second year, but it is already producing great benefits for Harlequins - and there is also a significant amount of talent coming up behind this group."

Hooker Marlow Warrington-Mattei, prop Mark Lambert and flanker Chris Robshaw, for instance, recently represented England Under-19s against Scotland, while both the club's Under-18 and Under-16 squads have players who have turned out for England Schools.

"A lot of people think it is a false economy to run age group sides when perhaps only two or three players make it through to the first team from a particular group," added Russ.

"But I believe in developing talent, and not cherry-picking it. No one can tell if a player is going to make it when he is 15 or 16, anyway. Even at a later age, players develop at different speeds. We might not get seven in the England Under-21 squad every year but it's very nice when it happens!"

Monye, meanwhile, has also benefited from his year's experience with the England Sevens squad, after he was identified as a wing of high promise even before making a Premiership start.

"Joe Lydon, the England Sevens manager, took a gamble with me and I'd like to think I've repaid his faith," said Monye, who has contributed much to England's success on the IRB Sevens circuit in the past 12 months.

"I'm happy with things and I'm glad to have come through a little period of injuries. Now I can't wait for the rest of the season, what with Quins doing well in the Premiership and the Parker Pen Cup and the prospect of playing both England Under-21 and Sevens rugby.

"I feel privileged to be a part of a system at Harlequins which has produced so many highly-talented young players, and which so clearly works."

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