John Kingston has become the fourth Premiership director of rugby to leave his job this season – just three months after signing a contract extension at Harlequins – following their disastrous home defeat by London Irish on Saturday.
Kingston’s departure at the end of the season will mean that at least a third of the directors of rugby who started the campaign have left their roles by the end of it. Indeed, all of the Premiership’s bottom four – Harlequins, Northampton, Worcester and London Irish – have parted company with Kingston, Jim Mallinder, Gary Gold and Nick Kennedy respectively.
Piet van Zyl grabs two tries as bottom side London Irish batter Harlequins
Kingston guided Harlequins to sixth place and back into the Champions Cup last season but the pressure had been mounting on the director of rugby, who will end his 17-year association with the club in May, amid a string of poor results. The 35-5 defeat by London Irish, who remain at the foot of the Premiership, was their 12th in the league this season and proved the final straw.
Kingston was a surprise choice to replace Conor O’Shea in April 2016 after Harlequins had been linked with a series of high-profile appointments, only to turn to their existing head coach. The decision to extend Kingston’s contract in January now looks all the more surprising, with a sizeable compensation package likely.
With Harlequins ninth in the Premiership table, Kingston will see out the final three matches of the season while Quins search for his successor. Having announced a strategic partnership with the All Blacks last month New Zealand is likely to be one of the first ports of call for the club’s chief executive, David Ellis.
“The process to recruit someone new who can take Harlequins to the very top of English and European rugby is in hand,” Ellis said. “This season has been hugely frustrating and disappointing for everyone at Harlequins, and for none more so than John. With considerable regret, we have agreed that John should step down.”
Wayne Smith, who turned down Quins in 2016, will be linked with the job – not least because he left his role as the All Blacks’ assistant coach last October. Nick Evans – the Harlequins backs coach and a former All Black – recently travelled to New Zealand as part of the partnership and spent some time working with Smith. A stumbling block would appear to be the fact that the 60-year-old was announced last month as Kobe Steelers’ general manager. Smith has a pre-existing arrangement with the Japanese club, has agreed to work with Italy and O’Shea over the summer as a consultant and had been expected to spend time focusing on mentoring New Zealand coaches, as he did with Evans.
The Harlequins job remains an attractive proposition, but in Kingston’s case injuries to key players – the summer signings of Dimitri Catrakilis, Renaldo Bothma and Francis Saili have spent a significant length of time on the sidelines – as well as Quins’ perennial struggles when their England contingent are on international duty, have proved costly. Kingston has also had to deal with suspensions to his British & Irish Lions props Joe Marler and Kyle Sinckler as well as the acrimonious departure of Marland Yarde.
“It is with a very heavy heart that I will be leaving Harlequins at the end of this season,” Kingston said. “The obstacles this season have been well documented and no one has been more disappointed by our results than me.”
The England wing Jack Nowell believes his ankle injuries this season may prove a blessing in disguise for Exeter’s pursuit of a second successive Premiership title. Nowell came off the bench in Exeter’s crushing win against Gloucester on Sunday, scoring two tries in his first appearance since England’s Six Nations defeat by Scotland. “You do think of the positives, you have been resting and your body is in good shape,” the Lions wing said. “My body is feeling really good at the moment. In the past when I have played the whole season you do get the odd niggle so I’m in a good position.”