Quins boss Jason Gilmore sends out defiant response in face of criticism

Under-fire Harlequins boss Jason Gilmore insists he is the right man to halt the decline and bring the good times back to the Stoop, but says his critics need to be patient.

Quins legend Ugo Monye described last weekend’s 48-0 hammering at Gloucester, their heaviest league defeat in 26 years, which left them bottom of the Gallagher PREM table, as “one of the worst performances I have ever seen”.

Gilmore reiterated his side’s performance at Kingsholm was ‘unacceptable’ when he faced the media again on Wednesday but said there are no easy overnight fixes for the club’s decline since their shock PREM Final win in 2021.

Since winning their first title in nine years with the 40-38 win over Exeter Chiefs at Twickenham, only Gloucester and Newcastle Red Bulls have worse winning records, and the highly likeable Australian is their fourth coach since then.

The club have seen Billy Millard, Tabai Matson and Danny Wilson all come and go, but Gilmore has pleaded for more time as pressure mounts on the chief executive Laurie Dalrymple and the board.

Gallagher Premiership

P

W

L

D

PF

PA

PD

BP T

BP-7

BP

Total

1

Gloucester

2

2

0

0

10

2

Bristol

2

2

0

0

10

3

Bath

2

2

0

0

10

4

Northampton

2

1

1

0

6

5

Leicester

2

1

1

0

6

6

Saracens

2

1

1

0

6

7

Sale

2

1

1

0

4

8

Exeter Chiefs

2

0

2

0

3

9

Newcastle

2

0

2

0

2

10

Harlequins

2

0

2

0

0

“I feel I’ve got good experience, and I know this group well. I know the direction that is needed, and I’m not going to deviate from what I know will get this club back to where it needs to be.

“I understand the short-term focus, which is what we want as well. But there are some things within our club that we’ve got to make sure that long term, we’re putting strong foundations in as well.

“Otherwise, we’ll just keep continuing the cycle that we’ve been in. I definitely believe I’m the right person. Look, probably since we won the competition five or six years ago, the results have been on a steady decline across that period.

“To turn those around, that’s where we’ve got to make sure that the foundations of our programme, whether that’s strength and conditioning, coaching, recruitment, or salary cap management.

“There’s a lot there that goes into making sure that your programme is strong, and we’re attacking all of those at the moment. We’ve got to make sure that they set it up successfully, so the club doesn’t bounce up and down each year.

“You know, success like that is quick to lose, and it takes a long time, not a long time, to build. What we don’t want to do is just throw Band-Aid solutions on things where you go up and down, because when you rip the Band-Aid off, you actually don’t get anywhere,” he said.