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England’s World Cup preparations have been thrown into turmoil with their defence coach, Paul Gustard, leaving Eddie Jones’s coaching staff to become Harlequins’ head of rugby. It is believed Gustard will see out his duties on next month’s tour of South Africa before vacating his role as one of Jones’s key assistants only 15 months before the World Cup.
The appointment will be officially announced on Monday by Harlequins, who have reached an agreement with the Rugby Football Union for Gustard’s release. The 42-year-old was contracted with the RFU until after the 2019 World Cup, having been appointed by England in December 2015, and Jones publicly refused to entertain the idea that Gustard may be leaving as recently as last week. He dismissed the notion as “rumours” and claimed he had no contingency plan in place but Brad Davis, the Australian who has fulfilled the role at Wasps in the past and currently works at the Ospreys, has already been linked with the post.
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Gustard’s appointment can be considered a coup for Harlequins, who disposed of the services of John Kingston after a disappointing campaign in which they finished 10th. Kingston had signed a new two-year deal in January, however, and considering the compensation due to the RFU, Harlequins may have got their man but he has not come cheap. In addition, it is also believed Harlequins want to appoint a general manager – a position which Ben Ryan was hopeful of securing – as the 2012 Premiership champions seek to arrest a protracted period of decline.
Gustard’s departure from England may come as a surprise so close to the World Cup but it is thought he was also in the running when the Northampton job came up in December. He is by no means the first member of Jones’s staff to seek alternative employment – Rory Teague, who was employed as skills coach on a full-time basis in January 2017, left after only four months.
Gustard was in attendance at Allianz Park along with Jones on Saturday to watch his former club Saracens cruise past Wasps in their Premiership semi-final. They left with additional headaches with Billy Vunipola and Jack Willis withdrawn due to injury but the Wasps No 8 Nathan Hughes has been backed for an England call-up on Monday by his director of rugby, Dai Young.
Vunipola came off at half-time in Saracens’ dazzling 57-33 triumph on Saturday with a tight hamstring while the Wasps flanker Willis limped off with a knee injury and is almost certain to miss next month’s tour of South Africa, compounding Jones’s back-row problems.
Add in the decision by Steve Hansen to stir the pot and claim that Brad Shields would “probably have made the [New Zealand] team this year,” if not for his pledge of allegiance to England and his subsequent controversial selection to tour South Africa, and Jones has certainly had better weekends.
Hughes at least came through 66 minutes on his comeback from a knee injury sustained during the Six Nations. It was initially thought he would be ruled of the three-Test series against the Springboks and he was listed among the unavailable players when Jones named his 34-man squad this month. Jones was asked about Hughes last week, however, and hinted injuries may open the door to a place in the squad.
Furthermore Wasps’ defeat by Saracens means Hughes is available to be selected in the England squad named on Monday which will prepare for Sunday’s match against the Barbarians, giving Jones the chance to take a closer look amid Vunipola’s fitness problems. “Considering [Nathan] hasn’t had a lot of rugby, I thought he looked a lot better than when he went into the England set-up,” said Young. “We’ve done more conditioning with him. He will obviously benefit from that game and he has another couple of weeks before they go on tour.”
The outlook for Vunipola is certainly better than for Willis and, while the Saracens director of rugby, Mark McCall, cast doubt on whether he will be fit for this weekend’s Premiership final, the hooker Jamie George was more confident.
Nonetheless his ongoing fitness problems will be of serious concern for Jones considering he has managed only 59 minutes since breaking an arm in January.
“I think he’ll be fine. It was tightening up a bit and it was precautionary,” said George. “He gives you go-forward. Billy is a very level-headed bloke and, if we are not quite getting it right or we concede, he often says the right thing. He has got his own leadership style. He talks, we listen. To have someone of his calibre gives everyone a huge boost.”