Being captain is an honour but won’t change me – Alex Dombrandt
Alex Dombrandt has vowed captaincy won’t change him as a player or a person after being tasked with leading Harlequins this season.
The No.8 has been given the armband after lock Stephan Lewies decided to stand down after four years in the role.
The 27-year-old has deputised for Lewies in the past but other than that his captaincy experience is limited to his school cricket team.
“I am massively honoured and privileged to be named club captain,” Dombrandt said.
“Making sure we are all singing from the same hymn sheet and all working to the same goal that we have got is on me.
“We’ve got a great group of boys, a talented group, and I have got a lot of leaders to lean on as well.”
Paying tribute to Lewies, Dombrandt added: “What a great job he did while he was captain. He has put the club in a great position.
“We have a great relationship, a great friendship and he has been massive for me in terms of being another person who I can lean on.
“I like to think it has been quite a smooth transition.
“Stepping in while Steph has been injured over the last couple of seasons you get used to being captain and the things that go with that. So I’ve had that experience.
“I guess there are a few extra responsibilities and the day-to-day running of things and being involved with that.
“A couple more conversations maybe but on the whole I have tried to keep everything the same and not try to be different and just be myself really.
“I don’t want the fact that I am captain to take away from ultimately what my job is, which is to perform well and help the team win.
“I feel that I have proved that when I have stepped in before and played well. So for me it is nothing different, I’ll focus on my individual performance and help drive the team forward.”
Dombrandt’s new role comes after a frustrating summer spent on the sidelines with England.
Despite travelling to Japan and New Zealand, the former Cardiff Met student was unable to add to his 17 caps.
“It was frustrating, because ultimately that’s where I want to play, I want to play No.8 for England,” he admitted.
“But Ben Earl has been playing extremely well and for me my role on that tour was to train well and try and push my case for selection. But that wasn’t to be and I accepted that.
“For me, it was about trying to help the boys who were playing and give them everything they needed to perform on the weekend.”
One upside to the tour was that Dombrandt missed some of pre-season back at Quins, although he’s now had plenty of time to get to know all the new recruits and Jason Gilmore’s defensive system.
The vastly experienced Australian was appointed in June to try and help Quins become as well known for stopping the opposition as they are scoring tries, with head coach Danny Wilson this week admitting, “We ended up having to score five six tries to win a game of rugby”.
Keen to avoid a repeat, former Super Rugby and Australia A/U20s coach Gilmore was brought in to shake things up.
“Gilly has come in with some fresh ideas and systems that he strongly believes in and I think he has been great for us,” Dombrandt said.
“The boys have reacted really well to him and love having him around the place. The way he puts his message across to the boys is really impressive as well.
“I think we have showed in pre-season the strides we have made already, but I think the most exciting thing for me is we have only scratched the surface and it is exciting to see how far we can take it.”
For all the recent talk about merging leagues, the closest thing that we’ll get to an Anglo-Welsh competition is probably when Harlequins play.
Their Welsh playing clan doubled to four when Wyn Jones and Leigh Halfpenny, below, arrived in the summer to join Jarrod Evans and Dillon Lewis at the club.
Forwards coach Adam Jones is also part of the Celtic connection, with Dombrandt an honorary member by virtue of the time he spent over the Severn Bridge.
“It’s good to reminisce on my time in Cardiff and speak to the boys about it,” Dombrandt said.
“Sometimes you walk into the coffee shop and they’re all sat together with Bomb (Jones) chatting stories so you have to break them up a bit. But they have been brilliant, really top boys and top people and we are really lucky to have them at the club.”
Halfpenny’s arrival was one of the few Premiership headlines signings of the summer and Dombrandt is delighted to be working with a player of his calibre.
“To have a player of his pedigree want to come to Quins is massive and wants to test himself in a different environment is really pleasing to see. He has already added as lot on and off the pitch around the environment so I am looking forward to seeing him go this season.
“We’ve only been in the building together for a few weeks but I have already seen how professional he is in how he goes about his business day to day.”
Harlequins new era under Dombrandt starts today at Sale. “It’s always a tough challenge up there, always a physical challenge, but the boys are really excited and are happy to put pre-season behind them. This is why we play the game, right? For challenges like these to start the season with.”
