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Harlequins admit Gustard did not suit their environment
By Chris Jones
Harlequins have revealed in a searingly honest verdict on Paul Gustard’s time as Head of Rugby why they had to part company with the former England defence coach.
Gustard took over from John Kingston in 2018 but has not been able to stamp his personality on a squad that has worryingly leaked tries – an area of the game that is normally his speciality.
Now, Quins are looking for a new direction with chief executive Laurie Dalrymple admitting on the club’s in-house channel that: “It has been a tough week no doubt about it. Even if you take the emotion out of it we are dealing with individual personalities and friendships that have been part of the club for many months and we are dealing with the fact we have parted company with someone who put in a big effort in the past couple of seasons.
"It is very difficult and I think it easy too often to look at these things quite superficially and weigh them up in terms of the merits of positivity and negativity in terms of success and achievement.
“The one thing I have learnt over my time working in sport is that certain individuals suit certain environments and we took the time to reflect on the way we have been playing and the way we want to live and operate and create an identity that is reflective of us as a club and took a decision that in due course we want to go in a different direction.
“Sometimes in that process you have to make difficult decisions and that is one of the decisions we arrived at this week. It is not easy and in many ways it shouldn't reflect the contribution that Paul made to the club because he is an excellent coach.”
Despite making it clear that Gustard had not created the kind of club that Quins wanted, Dalrymple insisted the former Saracens coach could still have a successful career having opted out of England to take up the job at the Twickenham Stoop. “He is a great individual and fantastic to be around and I have got absolutely no doubt he will continue to flourish in future roles. Just because we decided to make a change doesn’t mean he isn’t going to succeed to the best of his ability somewhere else.”
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Latest Comments
John, McKenzie was 10 years ago and he only lasted 15 months until the disgustingly unfair affair that brought him down. I thought that if he didn't get another gig over Eddie V2 then he was done. I read that he had been approached but declined to put his name in the ring.
There are no potential Wallaby coaches outside of McKellar unless you have some inside info?
Go to commentsThe way they are defending is sometime pathetic to be honest. Itoje is usually on the inside of the rush and he is paired with a slower tight forward. Unable to keep up with the rush we have seen the line become disconnected on the inside where the big boys are. How many times have we seen Earl rush past the first receiver almost into no mans land covering no attacker. It looks like a system without any guidance. Tome Wright, Ikitau and a number of Wallabies went back to this soft centre as did Williams, Jordan and several others. Also when the line is broken the multiple lines of defence seems to be missing. The rush is predicated on a cover and recovery system with multiple lines of defence but with England you dont see it any more. Fitness and conditioning seems to be off as well as players are struggling to keep up with the intensity of the rush. Felix Jones has left a huge hole. The whole situation was and is a mess. Why they insist on not letting him go and having him work remotely is beyond me. Its leading to massive negative press and is a hot button issue thats distracting from the squad. Also the communication around Jones and his role has been absolute rubbish and is totally disjointed. While some say he is working remotely and playing a role others are saying theres been no contact. His role has not been defined and so people keep asking and keep getting different answers. England need a clean break from him and need to start over. Whatever reason for his leaving its time to cut the rope before the saga drags the whole Borthwick regime down. As for Joe El Abd well good luck to him. He is being made to look like an amateur by the whole saga and he is being asked to coach a system thats not his and which has been perfected and honed since 2017 by Nienaber, Jones, Erasmus and Co and which was first started by White in 2004. He is literally trying to figure out a system pioneered by double world cup winning coaches at the highest level and coach it at the same time. Talk about being on a hiding to nothing.
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