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Ian Vass Joins NEC Harlequins for Two Years
By Prof June 22 2005
Ian Vass played for Northampton Saints from 1999 until 2003 when he moved across the Channel to play for Stade Français. At Saints he was always Matt Dawson's deputy and at Stade he was deputy to Agustin Pichot.

Name: Ian Vass
Nickname: Vassy
Position: Scrum Half
Date of Birth: 17 August 1981
Place of Birth: Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham
Height: 5'11" (1.80m)
Weight: 15st 2lb (97kg)
Favourite Player: Brian O'Driscoll
Previous Clubs: Bedford Blues, Stade Français, Northampton Saints
International Honours: England U16A, U18, U19, U21, 7s
Contract: 2 Years (until June 2007)

He was part of Northampton's successful Heiniken Cup squad in 2000 being the youngest player to play in the competition that year.

In 2001 he played in the Heiniken Cup again after recovering from a serious knee injury which kept him sidelined for almost a year, in the same year he was selected by Joe Lydon to play England 7s along with the then Quins scrum half Nick Duncombe.

Last season he was awarded the Times & Citizen supporters player of the year showing how well liked the 23 year old is by the Bedford fans, but how he'll be received when he returns to Goldington Road on the 3rd December should be interesting.

Vass was a target for the Harlequins management and even though he was only half way through a two year contract at Bedford he is joining Quins for two years.

He has a wealth of experience for one so young and is renown for his skill with the ball in hand, his defense and also for his tactical kicking - he has also played some games at fly-half for Bedford. He's also a big lad for a scrum-half - almost six foot and over fifteen stone so he should be able to cope with the big forwards in ND1. He will certainly be missed by the Blues fans but the chance of moving to Quins to become a full-time professional again was obviously what he was looking for.

Vass will have strong competition from So'oialo, James and also Keogh but a half-back partnership with Mehrtens (or Jarvis) certainly looks very exciting indeed.

Welcome to Harlequins Ian, I hope you have a long and successful career with us.

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