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'Under Gussy we know exactly what we have to do to win'
By Online Editors
Harlequins has announced that Number 8 James Chisholm has re-signed with the club.
Chisholm, who has stepped up to the captaincy in the absence of Chris Robshaw and James Horwill this season, has continued to impress with his excellence across the field and dedication as Quins have risen to third in the Gallagher Premiership this season and qualified for the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup.
Chisholm joined the full-time Harlequins Academy from Brighton College in July 2013 and made his senior debut that same year. He has captained England U18s and represented England U20s, winning the Junior World Championship in 2014 and Six Nations in 2015 when he was named World Rugby U20 Championship Player of the Year.
He won the Players’ Player of the Season award in 2016/17 and the DHL Player of the Season last year. He has made 70 appearances for the Club, scoring 12 tries.
Head of Rugby Paul Gustard said: “Baby Chis has been a key part of creating a winning environment at the Club this season and thoroughly deserves his new contract.
“He has been almost an ever present for us this season and has led the team from the front with his destructive ball carrying, hard hitting defence and his constant work ethic. He has a real appetite to get better and improve.
"He is very proactive in seeking feedback and looking for areas of his game to improve, which is a really positive sign for someone who is young and very clear in what he wants to achieve. He epitomises the kind of player we need at this Club – he is talented, he is ambitious, he is a stand-up character and he knows how to have fun.
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“It is these qualities that we looked for when Chris and James were both sidelined and as a coaching group we knew he would respond positively when handed the captaincy for a number of important matches earlier this season.
“He is keen to develop his leadership capacity and as a group we are always looking to increase our density in this area and, irrespective of who has the armband, rugby has always required men that are willing to lead. I know he will play a major part in our exciting future as we continue to build on our momentum and constantly challenge in any competition we participate.”
Chisholm said: “Everyone always talks about winning but under Gussy we know exactly what we have to do to win and I am loving being a part of that.
“There is a vibrant atmosphere around The Stoop and the training ground right now and we are learning something new every day.
“Harlequins has been my only club; I am so pleased to be re-signing for them and can’t wait to start winning trophies to reward our endeavour.”
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Latest Comments
Well that sux.
Go to commentsLike I've said before about your idea (actually it might have been something to do with mine, I can't remember), I like that teams will a small sustainable league focus can gain the reward of more consistent CC involvement. I'd really like the most consistent option available.
Thing is, I think rugby can do better than footballs version. I think for instance I wanted everyone in it to think they can win it, where you're talking about the worst teams not giving up because they are so far off the pace we get really bad scoreline when that and giving up to concentrate on the league is happening together.
So I really like that you could have a way to remedy that, but personally I would want my model to not need that crutch. Some of this is the same problem that football has. I really like the landscape in both the URC and Prem, but Ireland with Leinster specifically, and France, are a problem IMO. In football this has turned CL pool stages in to simply cash cow fixtures for the also ran countries teams who just want to have a Real Madrid or ManC to lose to in their pool for that bumper revenue hit. It's always been a comp that had suffered for real interest until the knockouts as well (they might have changed it in recent years?).
You've got some great principles but I'm not sure it's going to deliver on that hard hitting impact right from the start without the best teams playing in it. I think you might need to think about the most minimal requirement/way/performance, a team needs to execute to stay in the Champions Cup as I was having some thougt about that earlier and had some theory I can't remember. First they could get entry by being a losing quarter finalist in the challenge, then putting all their eggs in the Champions pool play bucket in order to never finish last in their pool, all the while showing the same indifference to their league some show to EPCR rugby now, just to remain in champions. You extrapolate that out and is there ever likely to be more change to the champions cup that the bottom four sides rotate out each year for the 4 challenge teams? Are the leagues ever likely to have the sort of 'flux' required to see some variation? Even a good one like Englands.
I'd love to have a table at hand were you can see all the outcomes, and know how likely any of your top 12 teams are going break into Champions rubyg on th back it it are?
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