By Jon Page
Leigh Halfpenny, the test centurion, Wales’ 3rd highest points scorer ever, British and Irish Lions’ man of the series in 2013 and 2015 Champions Cup winner is now a Harlequin.
Following an open training session at Twickenham Stoop on Wednesday, Halfpenny joined teammates Joe Launchbury and Will Porter, along with Head Coach Danny Wilson and Chief Marketing Officer Adrian Wells to discuss all things ‘Quins’.
Regarding his move it ‘came about July time as an injury replacement, I got approached and jumped at the opportunity, to come to a great club like Quins with such rich history and the opportunity to play in the premiership as well.’
In Harlequins’ rich history they have lifted the Premiership Rugby trophy twice, with the most recent coming in a remarkable run for the title in 2021, taking part in one of the Premiership’s most iconic games. During the semi-final that year Harlequins, in a clash for the ages, went down 28-0 to Bristol Bears at Ashton Gate.
But in a match labelled the ‘Miracle of Bristanbul’ (named after Liverpool’s miracle 2005 UEFA Champions League final comeback in Istanbul), Harlequins went on to win 43-36, before winning the final the week after. On the prospect of getting to play alongside the architect of that famous victory and England flyhalf Marcus Smith, Halfpenny voiced his excitement saying, ‘anytime he gets his hands on the ball he makes things happen.’
Halfpenny described his perception of the Premiership as a ‘great league, really competitive speaking to the guys that have experienced it’ and ‘every game is a tough game. You’ve got to be at the top of your game every week to get where you want to be in the league to progress and yeah, really exciting in terms of every game has full crowds.’
For Harlequins especially, full crowds are a regular occurrence, with Chief Marketing Officer Adrian Wells revealing that Harlequins ‘sold out every one of the men’s games here at the Stoop bar two’, with both of those games coinciding with the 2023 men’s Rugby World Cup.
Despite his age profile and suggestions of a transition into coaching, Halfpenny describes his goals for the season as ‘primarily I want to play, like I said push for that position’ but is happy with ‘any part I can play this season for Quins whether that’s playing or off the field.’
This links back to earlier comments made by Head Coach Danny Wilson, that his ‘squad did not have the depth we needed’ for a late push for both domestic and European finals and noted how last season’s Premiership winners ‘Northampton have grown from within.’ Wilson spoke of a ‘two headed approach’ to ‘bring through younger players this year’ which features learning from experienced campaigners (such as Halfpenny) and through exposure to game time at the highest level.
‘Coming into Cardiff I was fortunate to have someone like Ben Blair in the squad. He was superb for me, just learning from him. I was playing on the wing at the time for Cardiff and just learning from him what he wanted from me outside him and watching how he went about his business in terms of his extras and things like that.’
With Halfpenny’s experience of being mentored in the early stage of his career by a veteran player, it seems Harlequins have gained not just a proven top level rugby player, but also an experienced head to help guide younger back three players such as Roma Zheng and Cassius Cleaves.
An example of this mentoring in action at Harlequins is already evident, with Will Porter explaining that there is ‘no better person to learn off’ in his position than Danny Care, Harlequins most capped player.