Quins chief buoyed by youth

Dean Richards has backed his emerging Harlequins side to surprise a number of their Guinness Premiership rivals this season.

Harlequins director of rugby Dean Richards has backed his emerging young side to surprise a good number of their Guinness Premiership rivals this season. Richards' charges shrugged off the loss of their World Cup stars to record an impressive 39-15 victory over Leeds Carnegie on Saturday. That led to the Quins chief lavishing praise on his squad and the club's successful youth system. "Having the smallest squad in the Premiership obviously impacts on us more than anyone," Richards stated. "But we are comfortable with our squad and the players we have brought in. "If we continue with the performances we are showing, we might get somewhere this year, but we are going to give a lot of people a run for their money. "I'm very fond of my squad. I wouldn't change anyone. "Our academy has been very good, and the coaches are doing a great job. "We are a lot better organised than we were when I came here, two-and-a-half years ago. "A lot of our youngsters have now got a lot of experience, and a number of others are going to make it over the next few years. "The beauty is that the players who are coming through are all England-qualified. "We are a young side that is growing, and if some of them are selected for England, it will be a bonus for us." However, the former England and Leicester back-rower insisted his team still had plenty to improve on, adding: "You only become a close-knit squad when you go through triumph and adversity and stick together. We haven't done that yet. "We have a strong squad - but there again, it is still a bit fragile - but we are getting there." Leeds coach Stuart Lancaster claimed the early loss of John Dunbar had hit his side's hopes of victory, but conceded his side had been second-best during the encounter. "It (the loss of Dunbar) was a blow to us but we have got to move on from this, and learn from our mistakes," he declared. "We struggled in the set-pieces in the first half, but I thought we did better in the second. "There are areas we have got to look at before next week."