Gustard departure leaves Jones with questions to answer – Andy Goode

Paul Gustard is the perfect fit for Harlequins but his departure from England leaves another gaping hole and more questions for Eddie Jones to answer.

It’s not just the players who are worked exceptionally hard when they’re with the national team. The pressure Jones puts on his members of staff is huge. Gustard has been an integral part of his coaching setup since 2016 and for him to leave 16 months out from a World Cup isn’t a good sign and puts a major spanner in the works.

It’s dreadful timing and, with Scott Wisemantel only on board for the June Tests, it means a team that’s aiming to be number one in the world and with more resources behind it than any other is left looking for both an attack and defence coach with a World Cup on the horizon. That’s far from ideal.

Shaun Edwards has been mentioned as a replacement but there seems to be an arrogance that we can just pick any coach in the world and just have them. He’s with Wales and he’s got to want the job and I’m not sure I can see he and Eddie Jones working together.

Alex Sanderson has also been spoken about but I’d be really surprised if he was in the running as the word is that they didn’t see eye to eye when they were together at Saracens.

I’d go for Brad Davis, who’s defence coach at Ospreys at the moment. He’s Australian and has a rugby league background and I worked with him at Wasps. He’s the best defence coach I had in my career and brings the level of detail you need at that level.

Paul Gustard, left, and Eddie Jones. Photo: Getty

In terms of Quins, Gustard’s got a wealth of experience in winning environments with Saracens and England, everyone who works with him says he’s a very forward-thinking coach, he’s well liked by the players and has good relationships with a lot of the players at the club already, so it’s a good appointment.

I think they’re trying to move away from the traditional Quins ethos, which has had success at times but has also been proven to have a soft underbelly.

Saracens and Quins don’t like each other and there is bad blood between them so it’s a big statement from the club to appoint a man that has such a huge history at Allianz Park but there’s no question it’s what they need.

It’s been a very comfy environment at The Stoop for a while now with nobody really challenging each other and that’ll get shaken up. Defence has been a massive weakness with no aggression, no line speed and no physicality for much of this season and they’re all the things Gustard has brought to the teams he’s coached.

He’s famous for introducing the ‘wolfpack’ and, while he won’t do exactly the same things at Harlequins, he’s an innovative coach so maybe he’ll turn them into hyenas in defence and bring a few of those along to Surrey Sports Park!

I played with Guzzy at Leicester and he couldn’t catch a cold most of the time but he was hard and abrasive and we even named a running line after him because he’d always pick an angle from around 20 metres away and come screaming in towards the base of the ruck trying to find the blind spot of a defender. He’d cut everyone else’s line off in the process and drop the ball half the time but it was effective when he caught it and we used to call it the Guzzy line.

As well as being tough, though, he was a bit of a philosopher. He always thought outside the box even as a player, looking for different angles on things, and you could tell he’d make a good coach.

He’s going in as head of rugby and to have the role split with a general manager alongside him is exactly what he needs in his first head coaching role. It’s a big step up from solely focusing on defence and that’ll allow him to concentrate on what he’s good at it.

I know Ben Ryan has been mentioned but I don’t see him as being the top man in the 15-a-side game as sevens is a very different sport and I certainly don’t see him in this managerial role because I think his passion is coaching as well.

I’m sure Gustard will have had a big say in who he wants to fill that general manager vacancy and he won’t want someone who wants to get involved in the playing side of things, so I think it’ll be someone who’s used to wearing a suit and not a tracksuit.

There can be crossed wires if you get these appointments wrong. When I was at London Irish Glenn Delaney was in a suit but was desperate to be out on the training pitch and it muddied the waters.

Newcastle is the example of how to structure it as Dean Richards has no interest in being out on the training field and that allows Dave Walder, John Wells and co to do what they do best as well.

That’s what Gustard needs and he’ll also want to make sure the team of coaches underneath him is right for him. He has to have the final say on that. You’re only going to achieve success if the man at the top is happy and able to trust everyone underneath him and the whole staff is pulling in the same direction.

When I was at Leicester under Marcelo Loffreda, he had Richard Cockerill under him which was a situation that was forced on him and they were pulling in completely different directions. That didn’t end well, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens in terms of the assistant coaches at Quins.

He’s not going to be able to have much of a say in terms of recruitment for a while as there aren’t many quality players left on the market for next season, so he’s got his work cut out for him on the training field but that’s where his skills lie and there’s no doubt he’ll improve them.

It’s always a bit of a risk when you take a new job but Quins can’t get any worse than they were this season and he might not have any experience as the main man but I don’t see it as a gamble for the club either.

They’ve been going backwards since 2012 and Gustard’s hard-nosed mentality and doggedness combined with his innovative, forward-thinking approach is exactly what the doctor ordered.

Clearly, he had the desire to become a head coach, that was a massive pull for him, and he might have wanted to move back to day-to-day club coaching and the more settled family life that comes with that as well.

The long-term deal on offer from Quins provides greater stability and I’d expect a head coach in the Premiership to be on a lot more money than an assistant coach at international level, so there are understandable reasons for his departure but that doesn’t mean there aren’t question marks for England.

It isn’t just the coaching situation, there’s a high turnover of other staff such as physios and communications managers underneath Eddie Jones. He’s had a lot of success and there’s no doubting his credentials but it’s also evident how tough he is to work for.

You can see why Harlequins wanted Gustard and why he would want to go but the question marks all sit firmly at the England head coach’s door now. Who he turns to next will prove pivotal for England’s World Cup chances but maybe he needs to have a look at his management style as well.