Harlequins trusted 19-year-old Lucas Friday to replace Danny Care and the signs are good

It is important not to be blinkered either way by the glimpses of a young player. Late bloomers can kick on and prodigies can stall in their development. But the poise shown by Lucas Friday in the knockout rounds of the 2024 Under-20 World Championship stuck out immediately.

At the age of just 17, playing two years up, the scrum-half came off the bench five times in the tournament. His fundamental skills looked polished. He exuded calm. The last of Friday’s cameos came in the final against France and was punctuated by touches such as this regathered box-kick…

…which was followed two phases later by a deft chip that led to a knock-on:

With two strikes, one off each foot, the teenager had presented an exhibition of game management and pinned England’s opponents deep in their own territory.

Progress is never a straight line, though. Friday suffered a horrific knee injury last February that required reconstructive surgery and needed to wait until November 29 for his first appearance of this season. Over the past fortnight, his quality has shone through.

An all-action performance in the 61-10 thrashing of Stormers was consolidated on Sunday as Friday stayed on the pitch for all 80 minutes of a famous victory at Stade Marcel-Deflandre. There were fine individual displays all over the pitch, with Alex Dombrandt outstanding. Friday, however, steered matters. And a happy retiree approved.

“It’s crazy to see how at ease he looks already,” says Danny Care, who bowed out at the end of last season and was in the stands at the weekend. “I’ve known about Lucas for a long time, partly because his old man was my mentor from about 16 until about 21 in the junior national academy and then picked me in the sevens for the Commonwealth Games. It was a full-circle moment when Lucas came in to train with the boys fully last year.

“Over the last few weeks, he’s shown that his temperament is exceptional for a 19-year-old kid. I thought his game management was wicked yesterday. His kicking, which he’s worked on, was brilliant and his speed of delivery – he gets the ball away quickly – is great.”

Friday’s father, Mike, is nicknamed “Geezer”. Lucas has become known as “The Truth” by Harlequins colleagues on account of his promise; essentially, because they believe he is the real deal. “Geezer and The Truth” could be a London-based detective drama, and Mike’s influence on his son is obvious.

To watch Friday snr coach young scrum-halves is an education in detail. He interrogates aspects such as their approach to the ball and feet positioning, demanding that prospects take pride in the speed and accuracy of their service. Lucas certainly seems to do so, which helps him create space for others on the pitch.

Here, in the ninth minute, he fizzes the ball away from a scrum to Marcus Smith, who is able to make ground and fix a defender before linking with Nick David:

On the next phase, Friday fires a 10-metre laser beam to Joe Launchbury, with Dombrandt cutting an angle on the inside:

Friday then threatens the fringe defence, lifting a pass to Jack Kenningham, before bouncing back to the short side to find Smith again. Chandler Cunningham-South spills, but Harlequins are beyond halfway:

The vast majority of Friday’s kicks were either high enough to allow chasers to contest or long enough to control territory. Pressure-relieving clearances like these, denying La Rochelle a chance to counter, were a regular sight:

There are several ways to generate quick rucks and it is often a chicken-or-egg question. If defenders make robust tackles and disrupt the breakdown, the attack is unlikely to gather impetus. But zippy, proactive scrum-halves who arrive promptly and bring the ball away can help to raise the tempo themselves. Steve Borthwick really values this.

Here, on the stroke of half-time, Harlequins run a move in which Kenningham arcs away from a maul to feed Bryn Bradley:

Friday darts in, changes direction and aims to launch Dombrandt. Judicaël Cancoriet bats the ball down to concede a penalty…

…and Harlequins stay in this area of the field. Uini Atonio is sent to the sin-bin and Cadan Murley eventually scores a crucial try.

Early in the second period, Friday helped to manoeuvre La Rochelle around the pitch. He begins in the receiver position for this line-out…

…and swings the ball directly to Bradley, who tips it on to Luke Northmore in an example of how this centre partnership has served Harlequins:

Again, Friday switches direction on the next phase. He wraps around Kieran Treadwell and skims a kick into La Rochelle’s 22:

Tyrone Green’s try came from another line-out on that side of the field, with Friday first sending up Bradley and then hitting Dombrandt at first receiver behind the decoy run of Jack Walker before Cunningham-South floods through to flick the telling offload:

While Smith served 10 minutes in the sin-bin, Friday assumed responsibility for kicks to touch and struck a restart – albeit a wobbly one. He knew when to slow the game down, pointing to the sky here as he approaches a ruck…

Even for Tom Lawday’s match-winning score, the pass from Friday is worth examining. It negates three or four defenders close to the ruck, with Jarrod Evans able to set himself deep and wide before looping another cut-out to Lawday:

Slick passing and pinpoint kicking may seem like minimum requirements, but repeating these things relentlessly really does enhance a team. Aaron Smith, the New Zealand great, is probably the best example.

Will Porter and Stu Townsend are both injured, but it still spoke volumes that Harlequins head coach Jason Gilmore kept Friday on for the entire 80 minutes against La Rochelle.

Multiple sources insisted that Friday possesses an “elite mindset” that combines determination with eagerness to learn. During his long rehabilitation period after surgery, for instance, Friday was said to be the first in and the last out of Harlequins’ training facility.

“I’ve seen a lot of kids come through the academy, but he is one of the most coachable I have ever come across,” Care adds. “He is always asking questions of players around him. Players come through and think ‘I’ll be all right’, but Lucas was, and still is, a sponge.

“To wrap it all up, he’s just a really nice kid who has obviously been brought up extremely well. He’s a great team-mate who’s incredibly driven and competitive... I couldn’t speak more highly of him. I’ve tried to help him out where I can, but he hardly needs me. He’s flying.”

Leadership and organisation are crucial pillars of a scrum-half’s game and Friday is not frightened to direct those around him. He also appears to be an intuitive and brave defender.

A slightly spiky streak was in evidence as he forced a turnover – and celebrated heartily – against the Stormers. Consistency is the key for Friday, because he could climb the ladder quickly.

He remains eligible for England Under-20, though it would not be a surprise to see him fast-tracked into the England A squad to face Ireland on February 6.

Alex Mitchell, Ben Spencer, Jack van Poortvliet and Raffi Quirke will vie for spots in the Six Nations squad with Harry Randall fit again. There may be room for a bolter to surge into consideration for the 2027 World Cup squad.

Porter featured for England A last season, while Archie McParland and Caolan Englefield were given a single start each for the second string in the autumn. Charlie Bracken is doing all he can to earn more game time at Saracens as well, with Borthwick inviting him to a training camp last summer. Friday should be right in that shake-up.

The past fortnight has been a refreshing tonic for beleaguered Harlequins fans, giving them renewed hope for the future. Friday has been a significant reason for inspiring that optimism.

[Source: Daily Telegraph]