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The ultimate reason Kingston lost his job and why more could follow

By Chris Jones
Harlequins director of rugby John Kingston

Harlequins failure to qualify for the European Champions Cup is the reason John Kingston lost his job as director of rugby and other members of the coaching set-up could also face the axe.

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RugbyPass understands that an audit of the coaches is currently underway following a dismal season that sees the former Premiership champions with just seven wins from their 19 league matches to date having also failed to make any impact on their return to Champions Cup after three seasons of failing to qualify for Europe’s premier competition.

High profile players such as Joe Marler Chris Robshaw and Kyle Sinckler took to social media to apologise to the fans who had booed at the final whistle after the dreadful performance in the 35-5 loss to bottom club London Irish on Saturday.

It was a defeat that increased the view that Kingston had lost the dressing room, however, we have been assured this is not the case.

Kingston, who will leave his role after 17 years with the club at the end of the season, was tasked with driving the team into the top four and ensuring Champions Cup rugby and has paid the price of failure to achieve both targets. Now, the focus will fall on head coach Mark Mapletoft, forwards coach Graham Rowntree, defence coach Nick Easter, attack coach Nick Evans, skills coach Colin Osborne and assistant forwards coach Adam Jones.

Quins are, we also understand, in the process of assembling the panel that will oversee the worldwide search for a replacement for Kingston although the emphasis may switch to appointing a high profile head coach as the focal point for a new regime with a director of rugby then tasked with handling player contracts and negotiations with agents along with other off the field matters.

Quins chiefs accept that with just over a year until the World Cup in Japan, their task may be more complicated with a number of high profile jobs possibly becoming available after that tournament. The club, one of the great names of the game, is playing down the recent agreement signed with the New Zealand RFU insisting that was being discussed for nearly two years and does not involve any input into the in the running of the professional rugby side of the club.

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Instead, it revolves around coaching and playing opportunities for members of the men’s and women’s sections along with commercial co-operation as Addidas are involved with both parties.

Stuart Lancaster, the former England coach, will be one of the favourites to land the job but he has recently signed a new deal with Leinster where he has made such a major impact following the 2015 World Cup debacle. Lancaster is keen to experience coaching in the Southern Hemisphere and Quins will have to work hard to convince the Leeds based coach to get involved in English rugby again.

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Jon 6 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 9 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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A
Adrian 11 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

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