'I'll get players to give me feedback on how I've coached'
Paul Gustard refused to take comfort in Harlequins’ resurgence this season as a Gallagher Premiership semi-final against Exeter slipped from their grasp in dramatic circumstances.
Replacement fly-half James Lang narrowly missed a last-gasp penalty from just inside his own half as Wasps edged a thrilling 27-25 victory in the climax to the regular season at the Ricoh Arena.
Had Lang been accurate, Quins would have qualified for the playoffs at Northampton’s expense.
Gustard’s first season as head of rugby has delivered a marked improvement on last season when a 10th-place finish resulted in the removal of John Kingston.
But the former England defence coach insisted challenging for the title was his only goal as he said: “At the end I was anxious, nervous, excited. I didn’t know whether to look or not to look.
“Ultimately, I can be proud of the team because we made some big strides this year. But the over-riding emotion is disappointment because we were so close.
“Entering the game we knew we had to win and we were very confident but seven points from our last seven games in the league has been our downfall.
“We’re a group that works for each other, likes each other and respects each other. If we have that kind of attitude next season, this club will always be all right.”
Appraising his own performance, Gustard added: “I have to improve, I made too many mistakes, so I’ll critically reflect. I’ll get players to give me feedback on how I’ve coached.
“We’ll have a big internal review on Monday. We need to improve. I’m proud of the effort but we have to get better.
“My bar is not set at fifth and I’m gutted we won’t be in the semi-final next week because I want us to be there.”
Wasps had to survive two fightbacks from Quins to cling on to a win that was insufficient to clinch qualification for the Champions Cup through a top-six finish.
Victory at least gave the departing Joe Simpson, Elliot Daly, Nathan Hughes, Willie Le Roux and Jake Cooper-Woolley a triumphant farewell.
But Director of Rugby Dai Young feels uncertain times lie ahead.
“We’ve got to establish a new leadership group because a lot of our leaders have moved on,” Young said.
“We’ve got to start again pretty much. Squads at some point will break up. It’s natural. The squad I built four or five seasons ago is over now.
“We need to change. We need to be different next year because things haven’t worked as well as we’d have liked this year.
“There are lots of things we need to change and improve on. We know where we are. Everyone deserves a couple of weeks off to recharge the batteries.
“It’s probably been my most challenging season at Wasps. Black clouds have been here since October – the financial situation, training ground, employees leaving, results.
“The buck will stop with me, I understand that. This may be the kick in the guts this club needs.”
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You forget this is Rassie Erasmus who is still holding the Springbok keys. Even with Felix Jones orchestrating a really tight RWC SF last year. It still wasn't enough to get England past their particular Springbok Monkey in world cups. The reason is FJ was going off of what they did in 2019 not necessarily adapting to current Springboks. So yes, Australia can get passed England because let's be honest, England have a one track strategy, Springboks do not. Even with rush defense I wouldn't be surprised if Rassie continually tweaks it. Also bear in mind Rassie is happy to sacrifice a few mid year and inter World Cup matches to pin point how opposition plays and how to again tweak strategies to get his Springboks in peak performance for the next World Cup. As much as most teams like to win games in front of them and try to win everything, Rassie always makes sure to learn and train for the greatest showdown International Rugby has to offer. Tbh, most people remember World Cup wins and ignore intermediate losses as a result but will remember also WC losses, Ireland, even if they won games in the interim. So even if games are won against the Springboks, it's likely Rassie is just getting a feel for how opposition is moving and adapt accordingly…in time.
Go to commentsDanny don't care. He pretends to care but he don't. He says all this stuff to justify his reasoning but no one can claim that legitimately. He knew exactly what he was doing and wondered if his old team mate would overlook it, which he did. Ref has got to be sidelined or properly trained. It's one thing for refs to move up the ranks but if it was me I would require refs to either have played in different clubs or not at all having the temptation to bias in high stakes games like this. This has got to be stamped out. But then again World Rugby is so destroying the game of rugby in an attempt to be more “safe” and “concussion free”. What they are doing is making it more infuriating for the fans and more difficult for the refs to officiate evenly and consistently. It's fast become Australian Rules football. If guys don't want concussions, they should have played chess. Stop complaining you oldies of the game. When they played the game was vastly heavier hitting than it is now but of course they can't see that.
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