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#Post#: 142205--------------------------------------------------
Toby Booth?
DIR By: Fearless Fred
Date: September 17, 2025, 5:27 am
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Telegraph reporting he's lined up to take over on a one year
temporary deal
Link avoiding the paywall
HTML https://archive.ph/c6eZr
Toby Booth, the former Ospreys and London Irish boss, will
replace Harlequins head coach Danny Wilson in a short-term
capacity, Telegraph Sport understands.
Harlequins were left reeling last week when Wilson was poached
by Wales to be their new defence coach barely 24 hours before
their domestic season began with a Premiership Rugby Cup match
against Newcastle Red Bulls.
However, the club have acted decisively to plug the gap in their
coaching team by bringing in the well-travelled Booth, who has
previously coached at Harlequins. He will join a team of Quins
assistant coaches that comprise Jason Gilmore (defence), Nick
Evans (attack), Adam Jones (scrum) and Matt Ferguson
(transition). Andrew Sanger was promoted to Harlequins general
manager last month.
Booth first made his name at London Irish, guiding the exiles to
the Premiership final in 2009, before stints as an assistant at
Bath and Quins. In 2020, he took over as head coach of the
Ospreys and quickly transformed the Welsh region, guiding them
to the United Rugby Championship play-offs in 2024. That was the
first time a Welsh region had qualified for the play-offs in six
years and their tally of 14 wins was more than the Scarlets,
Dragons and Cardiff managed combined in the 2023-24 season.
However, last September the Ospreys announced that Booth would
be stepping down from his role at the end of the 2024-25 season
only for him to depart in December after results dipped. Booth,
who specialises in moulding forwards in his own hard-bitten
image, will bring an element of steel that Harlequins have often
lacked in recent years. It is understood that Harlequins senior
players have been informed of Booth’s impending arrival,
although his precise job title has yet to be confirmed.
Telegraph Sport understands that Booth will only join on a
season-long deal while they continue to hunt for a permanent
successor to Wilson. That search may not conclude for several
months as stronger candidates come off contract at other clubs
and unions.
Yet, for now, the club have stabilised after a series of
departures in the past 12 months from director of rugby Billy
Millard to playing stalwarts Danny Care and Joe Marler. Booth’s
arrival is likely to provide a renewed sense of optimism among
Harlequins supporters after a dispiriting seventh-place finish
last season.
#Post#: 142206--------------------------------------------------
Re: Toby Booth?
DIR By: never sleep
Date: September 17, 2025, 5:52 am
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Reading the old threads suggests that:
When he joined
- most were pretty happy
- we would have preferred him to be joining permanently
- some were impressed that we had attracted such a big name
When he left
- nobody seemed massively bothered
- some were unsure what he actually did while he was here
But - some of that was probably due to his role while we was
with us. I think his role was to mentor the other coaches (such
as Nev) rather than coach the players.
#Post#: 142207--------------------------------------------------
Re: Toby Booth?
DIR By: connaughtquin
Date: September 17, 2025, 5:53 am
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He's got to be worth a punt I guess as he's got experience of
both head and assistant coaching roles. He will be a new voice
to the players rather than those of the current coaches which
may be one of the reasons why the club have not decided to
promote from within? He is probably a less controversial
selection than Steve Diamond but hopefully he will have a bit of
"bark and bite" which the players I feel need and were not
getting from Danny Wilson who may have been too soft?
#Post#: 142208--------------------------------------------------
Re: Toby Booth?
DIR By: mrpj1985
Date: September 17, 2025, 5:57 am
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Sort of ideal in that he’s a forwards coach, can be a front man
for the media, knows the place.
#Post#: 142210--------------------------------------------------
Re: Toby Booth?
DIR By: poorfour
Date: September 17, 2025, 6:04 am
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Seems like a good option to me - a senior coach to co-ordinate
the others who’s a known quantity and buys time for us to find a
long term head coach.
#Post#: 142211--------------------------------------------------
Re: Toby Booth?
DIR By: ChiddQuin
Date: September 17, 2025, 6:12 am
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The club has limited options this close to the season. At least
they have got on with it and found a short term fix whilst
giving themselves time to sort out the longer term.
#Post#: 142213--------------------------------------------------
Re: Toby Booth?
DIR By: Quinten Poulsen
Date: September 17, 2025, 6:47 am
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He'd be a good acquisition right up until we're fed up with him
for one reason or another. Same with most coaches.
Just look at Van Graan - a revelation at Bath yet half of
Munster seemed to think he was not up to it and didn't
appreciate the boring rugby they played. I have no idea why or
how head coaches succeed or fail, given that they will almost
certainly all have similar qualities in terms of technical
expertise, man-management skills, game startegy etc.
#Post#: 142214--------------------------------------------------
Re: Toby Booth?
DIR By: Quinto
Date: September 17, 2025, 6:47 am
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Can he be any worse than Wilson?
#Post#: 142215--------------------------------------------------
Re: Toby Booth?
DIR By: poorfour
Date: September 17, 2025, 6:49 am
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--- Quote from: ChiddQuin link ---
>
> The club has limited options this close to the season. At
least they have got on with it and found a short term fix whilst
giving themselves time to sort out the longer term.
>
--- End Quote ---
Having thought about it a bit more, I don't buy the media spin
on this.
When an international side approaches a club coach for a
temporary appointment, everyone involved knows that the move
becoming permanent is a distinct possibility - even though
no-one can or will say that publicly.
A plausible scenario - given how short the time has been between
announcements - is that Quins know who they want as a successor,
but also know that they aren't immediately available. Wales
indicated over the summer that they wanted Wilson ASAP, and so
Quins moved to put Booth in place. They had probably already
agreed (or nearly agreed) terms with Booth before they released
Wilson, and they've just staggered the announcements because
that's a better media strategy.
As to the long term replacement, here's a bit of speculation
built on other speculation... Jo Yapp's term as Australia
Women's coach has come to an end and she's returning to the UK.
There's already talk of her being the next Red Roses head
coach... but John Mitchell's contract runs until the end of the
2026 W6N, which finishes on 17 May.
If the speculation about Yapp is correct, then there's a top
level coach who already lives in Surrey coming available in the
sort of timeframe that would fit with Booth's appointment.
Speculation on speculation, like I say. But it's likely that the
club already has a coach in mind who just isn't available until
next season.
#Post#: 142216--------------------------------------------------
Re: Toby Booth?
DIR By: Archquin
Date: September 17, 2025, 6:52 am
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Got to be worth a chance - good luck Toby and fingers crossed
......
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