The Harlequins reaction to Nick Evans' England decision

Harlequins have confirmed that Nick Evans will not be rejoining England’s coaching team for the Rugby World Cup. Steve Borthwick had hoped to retain Evans for this autumn’s tournament in France as well as its build-up, having appointed the former New Zealand fly-half to his staff on a short-term basis for the Six Nations.

But his job share failed to work for Quins, whose form nosedived during their attack coach’s absence with England. “Ultimately we battled while people were away with England, so not only did we lose some of our best players but we also lost our best coach,” head coach Tabai Matson said after Saturday’s 48-20 Gallagher Premiership victory over Newcastle.

“It’s good he is staying with us. He is signed up and is going to be staying. If I had the same opportunity three months ago when they [England] asked, when we were travelling well in the league and all of those things, given what I know now would I have said no? Maybe not.

“He has come back with a vast array of knowledge and experiences and that will make him a better coach. That experience has been phenomenal, but it cost us.”

Alex Dombrandt crossed twice in a superb individual performance with the second try a crucial score in breaking Newcastle’s resistance.

England boss Borthwick was watching from the stands as his first-choice number eight was at his marauding best just days after rival Billy Vunipola was ruled out for the rest of the season by a knee injury. “Alex was exceptional in the second half. Ultimately, his physicality and some of those carries in the second half were huge,” Matson said.

“He runs lines not many loose forwards do. That is the way he fits into our system. We can put him in positions where he causes havoc. He has the captain’s armband and that gives him confidence. He has been a different beast this week.

“He came back after an intense England campaign and you want to give them a mental rest even if they don’t get a physical one. But he got to recharge his game for a couple of weeks.”

The final scoreline was harsh on Newcastle, who suggested an upset was possible when Freddie Lockwood went over in the 66th minute before falling to a late flurry of tries.

“Our defensive effort in the first half was heroic. We came down with a gameplan to frustrate them and we did that for 37 minutes,” Falcons interim head coach Mark Laycock said.

“We managed the period when we were down to 14 men well, but the effort the boys had to put in took a toll on our bodies. Quins showed their class by scoring four tries in the last 10 minutes and we didn’t really have any answers for it. They are a great attacking side.”