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'He'd be great' - Exiled coach backed to fill England void

Paul Gustard and Steve Borthwick during the Quilter Cup match between England and the Barbarians at Twickenham Stadium on May 27, 2018 in London, England.

New Harlequins captain Alex Dombrandt has backed his former boss Paul Gustard to be “great” for England should he join Steve Borthwick’s set-up.

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The former Quins boss, now defence coach for Stade Francis, is reportedly on Borthwick’s three-man shortlist to fill the void left by Felix Jones, who announced his resignation as defence coach last month. The former Leicester Tigers and Saracens flanker is joined by Oyonnax head coach Joe El-Abd and Stormers defence coach Norman Laker on the shortlist.

This is a role that Gustard has already held – working under Eddie Jones until England’s disastrous 2018 Six Nations campaign – but he has rebuilt his career since then, and presided over the joint-most frugal defence in the Top 14 last season in terms of tries conceded.

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      Dombrandt flourished under Gustard’s tutelage in the early days of his Quins career, and recently described his former boss as a “great defence coach”.

      Speaking ahead of the new Gallagher Premiership season, where his Harlequins side face a tricky trip to the Salford Community Stadium to face Sale Sharks on Sunday, the England No.8 gave his thoughts on potentially being reunited with his former boss, this time with a rose on his chest.

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      “He’s a great defence coach, his record speaks for itself,” the Harlequins skipper said.

      “I got on well with Guzzy, had a great relationship with him.

      “If he got that role, I think he’d be great.”

      While Gustard has received Dombrandt’s backing, the biggest obstacle preventing him from returning to Twickenham is proving to be his club, with Stade Francais chief executive Thomas Lombard warning that his coach is not available.

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      “It is impossible for us to let Paul leave Stade Français, he is under contract until 2026,” Lombard reportedly said. “We want to keep him.”

      Gustard will be focussed on the job at hand this weekend, as his Stade Francais side host Toulon at the Stade Jean Bouin on Sunday in round three of the Top 14.

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      Comments

      1 Comment
      f
      fl 193 days ago

      if this is the three candidates, I guess Gustard would be the best option? I'm just glad Nick Easter isn't in the picture anymore though tbh!

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      H
      Head high tackle 3 hours ago
      Can Samoa and Tonga ever become contenders when their top talent is skimmed?

      I think you have gone in the wrong direction here Nick. I think you need to delve down into the rules etc around Moana Pacifica’s selection policies and then you need to understand that a lot of KIWI BORN rugby players have PI heritage. It appears ok for the 4 home nations to pillage NZ born players constantly without retribution but you want to question whether NZ BORN players should be eligible for NZ? Seems a real agenda in there.

      Go back and look at the actual Aims and agenda for MP becoming a entity and you see lots of things enshrined in policy that you arnt mentioning here. EG there is an allowance for a percentage of MP to be NZ eligible. This was done so MP could actually become competitive. Lets be real. If it wasnt this way then MP would not be competitive.

      There also seems to be some sort of claim ( mainly from the NH ) that NZ is “cashing in” on MP, which , quite frankly is a major error. Are you aware of how much MP costs NZR Financially?

      39 NZ born rugby players played at the last world cup for Samoa or Tonga. PLUS plenty for Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales.

      Taumoefolau is a BORN AND BRED NZer. However I very strongly doubt he will be an AB, but who do you believe he should be allowed to play for? Levi Aumua is ALSO a born and bred Kiwi.

      Aumua was eligible to represent Samoa and Fiji for the Pacific Nations Cup in July that year but ended up playing for neither. He IS eligible for his nation of Birth too Nick

      He is a Kiwi. Are you saying an NZ born, raised Kiwi cant play for NZ now?

      Sorry Nick Kiwi born and bred actually qualify for NZ.

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