Tyrone Green maps out bold objective as Harlequins ‘excited to go again’ ahead of Premiership season
Harlequins back Tyrone Green in action.
Harlequins ace Tyrone Green believes his side should be targeting at least one piece of silverware this season following their anti-climatic end last time out.
Quins’ ‘swing the bat’ approach helped them reach the Champions Cup semi-finals, but their European exploits came back to haunt them in the Premiership as they lost four of the final five games in the league and missed out on the play-offs.
But there is renewed hope at the Stoop this season, and flyer Green exclusively told Planet Rugby his side will take confidence from their European run to aim for glory this time around.
“We know we’re capable of competing for both trophies, he said. “We let ourselves down in the league last year but we did extremely well in Europe and we just want to improve this year. We have to push for a trophy this year, and if we get both that would be great!”
He added: “We know what we want to achieve, we want to win silverware this season and we know anything can happen in play-offs. We’ve got a process, we have to play well across the season to get into that top two spot and get a home semi. We have to get a trophy this season, it’s one of our goals.”
Highs and lows
Green might be daring to dream of adding another title to his collection in the quarters, but to do so they cannot afford the same mistakes as last season.
After such an emotional high following the shock victory in Bordeaux, Quins came crashing down to Earth after an agonising defeat to Toulouse in the semi-finals; which Green feels is the reason for their ‘lacklustre’ finish to the season.
“I think we were on a huge high in Europe,” he told Planet Rugby. “We beat Bordeaux in the quarters and we almost did a job on Toulouse – a couple minutes longer and we maybe get the win.
“Going on such a good run in Europe, everyone is on such a massive high; but then just missing out on that and then fatigue started catching up to us. I think it’s just that drop from that high to then missing out.”
Just six days after the semi-final defeat in France, they ventured to Sandy Park to face Exeter; but a poor first-half performance eventually saw them fall to a 58-26 defeat, and Green pinpointed this as a key moment in their drop out of the Premiership play-off spots.
“We had a few things go wrong in that first-half against Exeter which allowed them to go in ahead,” said Green.
“If those things don’t go wrong then it’s a slightly different game. The come down after Toulouse probably played a part in the two lacklustre performances we had, which we’re not happy with. We’ve got a few things to fix this season and the boys are excited to go again.”
EPCR secure game-changing new deal for Champions Cup replacing TNT Sport
The end of the season clearly took its toll on the playing group, and Green detailed they have had a reduced pre-season off the back of it.
“It’s been tough, but it’s been shorter than most pre-seasons,” he said. We’ve had three blocks and the coaches have broken it down quite well. We know we made a few errors in the last two games of the season. They weren’t where we want to be, but the coaches have their plans going forward.
“This pre-season has been getting the rugby involved and making sure the boys are conditioned so that when the season starts the boys are ready to go. I don’t mind a shorter pre-season if I’m honest, I’m not complaining!”
Spine is the key
If Harlequins want to end the season with silverware, Green will need another huge season.
Since his arrival from the Lions in 2020, he has established himself as one the best attacking full-backs in the Premiership, with his love of counter-attacking rugby perfectly suiting the team’s style.
Commenting on what makes him the player he is at Quins, Green said: “The freedom we have here, it was probably one of the reasons I came over initially.
“I love playing for the club. The boys back me, the coaches back me and it’s that freedom and confidence that allows me to express myself to the best of my ability and I’m enjoying it.”
Whilst he is a fantastic player in his own right, he is blessed with some pretty exceptional players in the spine. Marcus Smith is the poster-boy at Quins, and Green detailed how his connection with the England ace is vital to his game.
“We don’t stop working on (our connection). Me and Smithy (Marcus Smith) always try and do touch ups either during training or after training on what we’ve seen or what we could have done better. Those are things we always try with our comms with Danny (Care) around the rucks,” he added.
“You always try to do what’s best because defences are getting better so slight adjustments need to be made, but I’ve played with them for four years now and we understand each other quite well and we can pick things up in the game.”
Can Quins dare to dream of title glory this season?
