DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
ComeAllWithin (Harlequins Rugby)
HTML https://comeallwithin.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: ComeAllWithin Board
*****************************************************
#Post#: 147449--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Ruck podcast is up with CEO interview
DIR By: deadlyfrom5yardsout
Date: January 7, 2026, 12:26 am
---------------------------------------------------------
As for not recruiting players until you know the identity of the
incoming DoR, this is silly. If the Club is not continuously
succession planning for a DoR and therefore having some idea of
player recruitment for that DoR then we really are screwed.
#Post#: 147451--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Ruck podcast is up with CEO interview
DIR By: deadlyfrom5yardsout
Date: January 7, 2026, 2:02 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Wales ruined start of our season by poaching Danny Wilson, says
Harlequins chief
Laurie Dalrymple says his interim coach Jason Gilmore is still a
candidate for the full-time job
Daniel Schofield
Deputy Rugby Union Correspondent
Daniel Schofield
06 January 2026 11:45am GMT
Related Topics
Harlequins Rugby, Gallagher Premiership, Sale Sharks, Wales
Rugby Union Team, WRU
27
Gift this article free
Wilson
Wilson was recruited as Wales’ new assistant coach on the eve of
the English domestic season Credit: Getty Images/Bob Bradford
Laurie Dalrymple, the Harlequins chief executive, has accused
the Welsh Rugby Union of upending their season by poaching Danny
Wilson as he promised to bring the club’s coaching carousel to a
halt.
Harlequins allowed their head coach to join Wales’ tour to Japan
last summer on secondment only for the WRU to announce the
appointment of Wilson to their coaching ticket just hours before
the start of the domestic season.
At such late notice, Dalrymple turned in-house to Jason Gilmore
to lead the rugby programme but the Australian has only overseen
two league victories and the club are languishing in eighth
place.
Bath and Sale Sharks also had their assistant coaches Lee
Blackett and Byron McGuigan have their secondments on England’s
summer tour made permanent.
“We have somehow arrived in an environment where unions can
helicopter in, borrow employees, unsettle them and then come in
and get them at a later date when clubs are in a vulnerable
position,” Dalrymple said. “Danny went on the Japan tour in late
June and we did not have any contact from the WRU until
September and during that time, he is still our employee.”
Advertisement
Asked if the club should have been better prepared for Wilson’s
departure having long been linked with a role under new head
coach Steve Tandy, Dalrymple said: “In a hypothetical situation,
how do you legislate for someone who might not walk out the door
or have someone waiting to take on a role or a contract that may
never exist? At that point in September, you have two choices:
you back group you have, who know the players and the players
are supporting or you go external for coaches who are not in
employment a week before the start of the season.
“So Jason has taken on a situation that was not of his
engineering. We effectively gave him the keys to someone else’s
car, but asked him to drive it, keep it serviced when he has had
very little impact in the construct of that plan and structure
of how it is meant to be delivered.”
‘Sacking people won’t solve the problem’
Following their ten-try thrashing by Northampton on Saturday,
the club hierarchy issued a statement declaring that
performances and results have not been acceptable. Dalrymple is
fully aware that patience is wearing thin at one of English
rugby’s best-supported clubs but says that he will not rush the
review of the coaching structure. Interviews are ongoing and
Dalrymple declined to rule out Gilmore as a candidate.
Advertisement
Advertisement : 13 sec
In part, Dalrymple’s caution is an acknowledgement that the
club’s past appointments have not worked out. In the past 10
years, John Kingston, Paul Gustard, Tabai Matson, Wilson and
Gilmore have led the men’s programme at various points, although
ironically the club won the Prem title in 2021 without a single
head coach following Gustard’s departure.
Gilmore
Gilmore did not expect to get the job as Harlequins head coach
Credit: Getty Images/Tom Dulat
“To be honest, the reason we are having our current problems is
because we have had a changeable head coach environment pretty
consistently for too long now,” Dalrymple said. “If you don’t
have someone who can provide stability and a sustained and clear
plan – in line with the identity of club and we are quite clear
how we think we should and want to play – but it is entirely
fair to say, if we don’t have a coach in situ who can deliver on
that, then this equally feeds into your retention, your
recruitment, your academy transition, your squad composition.
All of those buckets feed off that critical appointment. For
various reasons we have not that stability so we have to make
sure we get this decision and this process absolutely correct
regarding our long term appointment decision.”
The club’s statement did not go far enough to ease the anger
among sections of the supporter base who have been calling for
instant changes to the coaching team after three successive
heavy defeats.
“I can see that some people want instant accountability and want
someone to lose their job, but that’s not necessarily going to
solve the problem,” Dalrymple said. “It is not going to change
things for the better unless you have an immediate back-up plan.
That’s not to say you can’t initiate change but if you are going
to make people lose their jobs you must be clear about what the
plan is next.”
Attempts to keep Esterhuizen and Jibulu
A lot of discontent relates to the club’s recent recruitment and
retention with a host of experienced internationals such as
Andre Esterhuizen departing or retiring while up-and-coming
talents such as Nathan Jibulu have also been lured elsewhere.
In the case of Esterhuizen, Dalrymple says: “He is a
generational talent and you don’t necessarily replace people
like that easily. We tried on numerous attempts and engaged with
a number of players but we were unsuccessful.” Instead, they
hoped youngster Ben Waghorn would kick on this season, but the
21-year-old has been largely ruled out by injury this season.
Dalrymple also disputes the notion they did not try to retain
another academy product Jibulu who has flourished at Sale
Sharks.
Jibulu for Sale
Nathan Jibulu (centre) left Harlequins for Sale last summer
Credit: Getty Images /Jan Kruger
“It is never as clear-cut as saying the club let them go,”
Dalrymple said. “They had a choice and decision themselves. We
are not going to get every piece of recruitment right. We made
big strides to keep him but he made a decision to leave but at
the same time we retained [Caden] Murley, [Fin] Baxter, [Alex]
Dombrandt and [Jack] Kenningham who are going to be key parts of
this club going forward.”
“Our fans are very patient and extremely supportive and it is
massively appreciated. We have to acknowledge that we may
continue to have some bumps in the road, whilst we make key
decisions for the future stability of the club. Professional
sport can be highly cyclical and things can change very fast. We
have some exceptional players and we just need to get back to
being an exceptional team again.”
#Post#: 147455--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Ruck podcast is up with CEO interview
DIR By: Subterra
Date: January 7, 2026, 6:25 am
---------------------------------------------------------
In other words blame everyone else......
Not ruling out Gilmore as permanent WTF ??????
The CEO must be on a different planet
Both need to go ......
I hear that Rowan Akinson is looking for a start and getting
Warwick Davies in as forwards coach ......
Will have better things to do than watch some more dross served
up on Sunday.
Clay shoot and full 3 course afterwards, so thats 6 people not
wasting money on a miserable Sunday afternoon.
#Post#: 147457--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Ruck podcast is up with CEO interview
DIR By: never sleep
Date: January 7, 2026, 6:35 am
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: Subterra link ---
>
> In other words blame everyone else......
> Not ruling out Gilmore as permanent WTF ??????
>
> The CEO must be on a different planet
> Both need to go ......
>
> I hear that Rowan Akinson is looking for a start and getting
Warwick Davies in as forwards coach ......
> Will have better things to do than watch some more dross
served up on Sunday.
> Clay shoot and full 3 course afterwards, so thats 6 people not
wasting money on a miserable Sunday afternoon.
>
>
>
>
--- End Quote ---
You are just speaking in hyperbole.
He should be considered as an option. All options should be
considered.
Ruling out options before you know what the options are is just
daft.
#Post#: 147459--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Ruck podcast is up with CEO interview
DIR By: FrostAndFire
Date: January 7, 2026, 6:49 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Dalrymple makes a lot of good points. We can definitely
criticise the failure to get a high quality head coach/director
of rugby for too long. But the situation with Wilson and Gilmore
is a fair point.
#Post#: 147462--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Ruck podcast is up with CEO interview
DIR By: T-Bone
Date: January 7, 2026, 7:43 am
---------------------------------------------------------
I've not listened to the full interview or the BBC pod. What are
they saying is wrong with the academy integration into the first
team?
#Post#: 147478--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Ruck podcast is up with CEO interview
DIR By: AAjnr
Date: January 7, 2026, 10:22 am
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: deadlyfrom5yardsout link ---
>
> Asked if the club should have been better prepared for
Wilson’s departure having long been linked with a role under new
head coach Steve Tandy, Dalrymple said: “In a hypothetical
situation, how do you legislate for someone who might not walk
out the door or have someone waiting to take on a role or a
contract that may never exist?
>
--- End Quote ---
Maybe it's something that is afforded to football because of the
money but I'm fairly sure PL teams (I remember reading this
specifically about Brighton) have lists of hypothetical ideal
replacements for coaches who could leave. Brighton then used
their list when Graham Potter left mid-season. Do Quins not have
the resources to do this kind of planning or is it an oversight
from the board/management?
#Post#: 147479--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Ruck podcast is up with CEO interview
DIR By: KentQuin
Date: January 7, 2026, 10:27 am
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: T-Bone link ---
>
> I've not listened to the full interview or the BBC pod. What
are they saying is wrong with the academy integration into the
first team?
>
--- End Quote ---
Jones, Ugo and Ashton were of the view that we traditionally do
very well at under 18 and 20 level, but not enough of our
academy graduate to become premiership regulars. They point to
an unsettled first team environment and constant chopping and
changing of DOR's as a big contributing factor. They use Saints
as a reference point whereby the playing style from age grade
through to first team is consistent, making the transition for
younger players far easier.
#Post#: 147480--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Ruck podcast is up with CEO interview
DIR By: FrostAndFire
Date: January 7, 2026, 10:35 am
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: AAjnr link ---
>
> Maybe it's something that is afforded to football because of
the money but I'm fairly sure PL teams (I remember reading this
specifically about Brighton) have lists of hypothetical ideal
replacements for coaches who could leave. Brighton then used
their list when Graham Potter left mid-season. Do Quins not have
the resources to do this kind of planning or is it an oversight
from the board/management?
>
--- End Quote ---
I think there are fewer top-level coaches just floating around
waiting for a job, and we don't really have a tradition of
poaching them from other clubs (nor the resources to do it).
Football is on a different level both in terms of available
coaches and money that can be splashed around to obtain them.
#Post#: 147482--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Ruck podcast is up with CEO interview
DIR By: Quinten Poulsen
Date: January 7, 2026, 10:53 am
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: KentQuin link ---
>
> They use Saints as a reference point whereby the playing style
from age grade through to first team is consistent, making the
transition for younger players far easier.
>
--- End Quote ---
This is what Quins have been doing for several years so perhaps
their analysis ain't that useful.
*****************************************************
Page 5 of 7
DIR Previous Page
DIR Next Page