Vos captain in waiting
12:10pm Friday 8th November 2002 in Harlequins
ANDRE VOS has been spared a baptism of fire as Harlequins' new captain by NOT being put in charge this Sunday when a depleted side minus seven regular players travels to Vicarage Road, to take on London rivals Saracens in a mid table Premiership clash (writes TOBY GREGORY).
Instead, Tony Diprose, who stood in as skipper against Caerphilly recently when Jason Leonard was rested, will captain the side against his former club. Quins team manager Mike Scott explains: "Vos is a world class player whose arrival last week from South Africa is providing a big boost for the club and he will take over as captain from Leonard soon. But he needs more time to settle in without the pressures of captaincy.
"He topped the tackle count in his debut last Saturday when he helped us beat Bath. Admittedly, he gave away a couple of penalties, but he simply has to adapt to the different way the game is played here from South Africa."
Vos says: "It was good to get a win under the belt. We have an outstanding squad - they are a great bunch of guys and we should do well this season. "I've learnt a lot in the short time I've been here and am looking forward to skippering the side. But it's only fair that I take one or two weeks to find my feet, just to see how the guys approach things here. The way I like to play the game is very similar to that of Mark Evans, which is one of the reasons why I am with Harlequins."
Ireland captain Keith Wood returns to the Harlequins team for Sunday's game against Saracens, kick-off 3pm . Wood has fully recovered from a neck injury and his return is one of three changes to the team that defeated Bath 18-9 at the Stoop. He replaces Tani Fuga at hooker, and the other change in the front row sees Bruce Starr come in for Leonard, who is one of the substitutes in the England team playing New Zealand at Twickenham tomorrow.
Will Greenwood, Quins' inspiration against Bath, is also part of that England team, so David Slemen replaces him at fly half after recovering from an ankle injury.
Quins will also be without five other players through injury - Luger, who resumed full training this week just three months after his career-threatening knee reconstruction, Burke, Sanderson, Winters and Bell.
Despite this, head coach Mark Evans believes that the squad has a better shape, more resilience and a greater depth which will hopefully see them through. He points out: "We've got good kids on the bench a group of them are starting to come through and they can all play in the Premiership."
Quins will be looking for their fourth win in a row and first away victory in the premiership this season.
They have not won away in the Premiership since they defeated Rotherham at Clifton Lane in March 2001. The last time they defeated Saracens at Vicarage Road was on April 25th, 1999.
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