Young Gun: Sam Stuart – Harlequins scrum-half

After three anterior cruciate ligament injuries in as many years Sam Stuart is finally ready to start repaying the faith Harlequins displayed in him despite severe geographical roadblocks.
The scrum-half was based in Gloucestershire and attending Wycliffe College until, at the age of ten, family relocation landed him at Cumbria’s Sedbergh School.
The move sparked his interest in rugby, which had existed in the West Country but never been fuelled to the same extent it would be at Sedbergh.
Under the tutelage of Nigel Moss, Stuart was part of a strong U13s side and was spotted by Harlequins while playing at the Rosslyn Park Sevens.
He linked up with the club’s youth setup and, despite the near 300-mile trip from Sedbergh to The Stoop, Stuart managed to honour both his educational and rugby commitments.
“I don’t really know what prompted the move, to be honest,” the 21-year-old Stuart told The Rugby Paper. “Mum decided it and it just happened.
“The rugby was really good up there. We won the Rosslyn Park School Sevens at U13 level. It was a good circuit and we played lots of good sides, like Millfield.
“My coach at school, Nigel Moss, was a big influence on me. He realised we had a good team and he put a lot of time and effort into it.
“To be honest I don’t really know why I ended up at Harlequins. The School Sevens was on the Roehampton ground where Quins used to train and I guess they had some sort of scout watching the age-group stuff.
“I wasn’t really down here very much because school was a very long way away. I was doing some training with the Leeds academy setup. It was more so they could keep tabs on me.
“I knew I wanted to move back down south and be in the mix and Quins looked like they had an exciting future.
“It never really crossed my mind to sign for a team further north – Harlequins made it very easy.”
As a youngster back in Gloucestershire Stuart’s first taste of the sport was Sunday morning matches at Stroud Rugby Club at the age of seven.
His progression since then has been far from routine and injuries since leaving school have prevented him from making the headway he would have hoped to by now.
But with Danny Care and Karl Dickson to learn from, and recently converted wing Jordan Burns also competing for the No.9 shirt, Stuart is in good company at The Stoop.
“I had a pretty bad run of thee ACLs but I’m back to shape now and just happy to be back playing,” he said.
“You leave school when you are 18 and think you are invincible and pretty soon I had an injury and I was out for nine months.
“I went to New Zealand for four months in the summer of 2012 and played for a team called East Coast Bays. It was a great experience.
“I have been involved in a couple of pre-season games but Quins have two very good No9s so I have to try and force myself into the team.
“Most clubs have four nines and Burnsy is a really good player. He is absolutely rapid.
“There really is a great atmosphere at the club, especially with so many of the lads coming through the academy.  All of the boys in the first team squad are Quins through and through.”