John O'Sullivan meets the gang of six who have teamed up to make Harlequins more Irish than London Irish themselves

The St Margaret's Tavern nestles in a bustling enclave of shops and bars between Richmond and Twickenham in the tiny hamlet of St Margaret's, one of London's more salubrious addresses and home to some of Harlequins' Irish cabal.

It's lunch-time and a couple of guys are pumping the slot machine, pints in hand, a far cry from the previous night, when the place was heaving, the punters including players from London Irish and Harlequins, who had met in a Zurich Premiership game that afternoon. There were more Irish-born players on the Harlequins team than on the Exiles team.

Venture farther into the premises and, amid a handful of diners, you find six young men sprawled around a corner table, dissecting the menu. The sledging and laughter are measured in equal doses. They're on a day off to recuperate, six days before one of the most important games in the club's recent history. Connacht visit The Stoop tomorrow in the first of a two-leg Parker Pen Challenge Cup semi-final. Several familiar faces will be emerging from the home dressingroom.

Gavin Duffy

"I always wanted to be part of Connacht's biggest day and I am, but not in the way that I had imagined. I still want to be on the winning team."

Tomorrow's match is especially poignant for Gavin Duffy. He quit Connacht to join Harlequins last summer. The 22-year-old full back, having completed a three-year Commerce degree at UCG as well as playing for the Irish province, wanted a fresh challenge. John Kingston provided it.

Having coached Duffy at Galwegians before accepting a role as Director of Rugby at Harlequins, Kingston was well versed in the qualities of the former Irish underage international. It wasn't an easy decision but having mulled over it for some months, Duffy plumped for Harlequins, despite overtures from Leinster.

"If I stayed in Ireland I was quite happy to stay with Connacht. I just felt I needed to get out of the comfort zone a little bit, (find) something totally different. I had been with the same group of players for three years. At the time it wasn't obvious what was going to happen to Connacht or who was going to coach them. I got on well with John Kingston in Galwegians and felt that my game improved under his direction and that Harlequins would therefore be the right choice."

Duffy has started 25 games since his arrival, scoring three tries, and, he feels, improved appreciably as a player. He suddenly had time to give undivided attention to rugby, instead of finding his dedication diluted by student demands.

Duffy first made his name as an inside centre - superb hands, great vision - but is now ensconced at full back, via the wing.

"Playing all those positions gave me a greater appreciation of back play in general. I don't mind where I play as long as I'm playing well.

"Having spoken to coaches the suggestion is that full back would suit me a little bit better at the moment in terms of my physique. There are a lot of big men in the centre these days. We spoke about getting a feel at full back and working on my strength and power, areas that I need to work on in the gym, and then maybe get back towards playing centre when I feel I can come off the pitch standing."

A call-up to Ireland's extended squads this season has come as a pleasant surprise but Duffy is adamant that he not only possesses the scope to take his game up a level but also doesn't want to become a bit-part player: in one week, out the next.

For now though a tilt against friends beckons. His father, Tony, is the proud possessor of a Harlequins tie, although whether he'll dare to wear it is another matter. Sister Aoife celebrates her 18th birthday tomorrow, so some of the family haven't travelled.

This isn't just another game.

"I'd be lying if I said it won't make any difference, the fact it's Connacht. All I want is to win, no more, no less. It's a massive game for Harlequins too."

Mel Deane

"The professionalism wasn't great, it was poor. But Connacht have stepped up their professionalism massively since those days. At that time there were maybe four or five individuals that saw it as a professional outfit. Other players would turn up for training locked. Monday morning, 7.0 am training, and they'd be elephants. We wondered why we were getting hockeyed in the second half of matches."

It's been a colourful journey. Mel Deane's nomadic inclinations saw him leave Longford as a seven-year-old for Ruislip in London, via Roscrea. He joined Wasps, where he played for five seasons before heading for Richmond, but then the liquidator intervened, whereupon he received a rather pointed call from home.

"I went to Connacht for a year because they (the IRFU) said they wouldn't pick me for Ireland if I didn't go back. I didn't change the number plates on my car; I had an English car. I was there a fortnight and said to myself that I wasn't staying. It was only a one-year contract anyway.

"They wanted me to stay but I wasn't happy (on the pitch). I loved being there (in other respects). I had a flat in Salthill, overlooking Galway Bay. It was a magnificent place and I loved the people but the rugby was horrendous."

The centre recalls his days with Buccaneers, the smile ruling out any hard feeling: "I went down on a Tuesday and Thursday night. I remember the hill and the pissing rain and going, 'what am I doing here?' It was a shocker."

Deane headed for Sale, where he enjoyed a "great couple of years" before joining Harlequins. As befits a man who has worked his way through several clubs, there won't be any emotional alimony come game time tomorrow.

"It won't be hard at all. When you play against former clubs you lift your game."

He is looking forward to renewing acquaintances, especially with one Connacht player: "Ernt (that's what he calls him) Elwood, the Galway legend. He's a top man. When I was there he was the consummate professional and that's why he's done so well for so long. He trains his old arse off; he's a gentleman."

Deane got a brief look in with Ireland when travelling to New Zealand for the summer tour of 2002 but the trail has gone cold.

"Before the World Cup last year, I rang Eddie (O'Sullivan) and said I'm available, I'm keen, I'm fit and I'm playing well for Harlequins. He said, 'Well you're not out of my plans altogether', but never came back to me. I won't hold me hopes up."

There isn't a trace of bitterness. Deane is content to devote all his energies to Harlequins, a player who loves the daily grind and lives for match day.

Simon Keogh

"I'm a small guy. Playing out wide is not a game for little fellas; they're generally scrumhalves. I'm more suited to scrumhalf."

The priority in leaving Leinster had been to shake off the tag marked "versatile". Simon Keogh wanted to play scrumhalf but his blistering pace beguiled several coaches into sticking him out on the wing. Harlequins continued the trend. He has played in all bar two of the club's games this season but only six times at scrumhalf.

Having initially received a call to the Stoop following the tragic death of Nick Duncombe, Keogh couldn't secure an early release from his Leinster contract, but last summer Harlequins came calling again. Recently he's been handed an extension to his contract, until 2006.

He laughs: "They asked me to come over as a scrumhalf. I had opportunities to go elsewhere as a utility back but Harlequins wanted me as a scrumhalf. As it turns out it wasn't specifically as a scrumhalf."

Keogh has scored nine tries this season and has settled quickly, facilitated by his housemates, Andy Dunne, Ben Willis and Phil Murphy.

Andy Dunne

"I do remember playing my first Leinster game ever and it was against Connacht. I look back and laugh. I was obviously a bit cocky or overconfident but I went out on the pitch thinking I was going to show everyone how good I was and all that. I ended up running up my own ass and Eric (Elwood) controlled the whole match."

Schoolboy international, under-21 international, touted as a future senior star, Andy Dunne hasn't quite realised the potential of those formative years. Two and a half years of injury problems and a difference of opinion with former Leinster coach Matt Williams presented Harlequins with a chance to entice Dunne to London.

The young outhalf relished the new challenge.

"I have developed through playing at this level for an extended period. There is no substitute for big-match experience, learning to control the game and making decisions at various stages of the match.

"Paul Turner (the backs coach) has been a big influence and has made me appreciate the value of putting people through holes, being aware of runners and lines, and this has added another dimension to my game." Ben Willis

"One thing I wouldn't mind doing is going back (to Ireland) and giving it another shot. If I did get a shot and didn't perform, then fair enough, and I realise that you have to earn the opportunity. There's been contact with a couple of provinces."

Despite being Auckland-born and raised, Ben Willis has held an Irish passport from childhood. His grandfather came from Richmond Hill, off Dublin's Camden street, and Ben was always aware of his heritage.

Auckland A, Waikato and Grenoble preceded a couple of seasons with Leinster; but he never really got a fair chance because it wasn't all-round scrumhalf qualities, but often place-kicking skills, that dictated the choice of number nine jersey with the Irish province.

He wanted a chance to start and found Harlequins willing to take him on.

Ironically, his housemate Simon Keogh is his main rival at the Stoop.

"Early on Simon played on the wing, so any rivalry was diluted. There hasn't been many times when one has been picked ahead of the other when we've both been fit and available."

At 27 and a qualified physiotherapist, Willis concedes he'd love to return to Ireland provided he was given "a level playing field" at whatever province he joined. He'd be a fine acquisition for anyone and confesses that to play for Ireland is still "a serious goal".

Paul Burke

"To be frank we haven't been playing well enough to merit going into a semi-final and being overly confident. We have got to pick our standards up; our lineout has been creaking and we haven't scrummed well. It has a domino effect through the team."

The elder statesman, at 31 later this year, Paul Burke is the most experienced of the sextet. Just recovered from a serious neck and shoulder injury, he is currently negotiating a new one-year deal: he wants two but Harlequins offered only one.

He knows the Connacht boys well from his time with Ireland squads and playing in Ireland; he's old enough to have played alongside Michael Bradley (at Cork Con).

Tomorrow will be special, not least for his father, Finbar, Galwayman and Connacht supporter.

"It's going to be incredibly tough. In two-leg affairs you take your points when they are available. Declining three points could be the difference between winning and losing over the two games. We have got to take every opportunity and not spurn any."

He's made a few extended Ireland squads this season and feels there are a couple of years left in him. Tomorrow would be a good time to prove the point.