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Paul Gustard to be unveiled at Stade Francais on Tuesday - report
By Liam Heagney
Ex-England defence coach Paul Gustard is reportedly in France ahead of his likely Tuesday unveiling as a new Stade Francais assistant coach. The former Harlequins head of rugby had taken up a three-year deal at Benetton in the URC last year, but that relationship looks set to end after just a single season amid reports that the 46-year-old is poised for a switch to the Top 14.
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According to rugbyrama.fr, a supporters evening is planned at the club and the expectation is that their new staff for the 2022/23 season will be confirmed prior to this function. It was May 20, just before the final Benetton match of their URC season, when it emerged that the Top 14 club was courting Gustard.
Having earned his stripes as a defence coach at Saracens, Gustard became part of the original Eddie Jones set-up at England before branching out to become his own boss when recruited by Harlequins. That tie-up ended prematurely, Gustard announcing in January 2021 that he would be taking up an offer to go to Italy for the 2021/22 season.
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Now, though, Gustard is reportedly on the move again, joining Julien Arias, Laurent Sempere and James Kent as part of the rejigged Stade Francais staff that will work under boss Gonzalo Quesada. The current season for Stade ended poorly last Sunday night, a 33-17 home defeat to Brive leaving them finishing in eleventh place on the table with just eleven wins in 26 outings.
Their concession of 561 points over the course of the campaign was also the eleventh worst defensive record in the competition, with only bottom pair Biarritz and Perpignan conceding more points along with tenth place Pau.
'If you look at it in simple black and white, I joined Harlequins when they were tenth on equal points with the eleventh team.'
Paul Gustard on life during and after #Quins, the #URC and why he's happier now in @BenettonRugby writes @heagneyl ??? #COYQhttps://t.co/YbbJrGyR9X
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 3, 2021
It was October when Gustard enthusiastically spoke with RugbyPass about his new life in Italy away from London after exiting Harlequins. “We always wanted to try something abroad,” he said. “We were looking at Japan or maybe the southern hemisphere and probably with the impact of covid and older relations and all the rest of it, being so far away from the UK turned us off those ideas and then it was Italy or France or staying in the UK.
“Since I have been to Treviso I have loved it and we have settled in so well, it’s such a welcoming place, a very social culture, very friendly people. They have made us feel very welcome, so it has been awesome. During the pandemic first time around last March (2020), I had a contract offer from Quins but you always see what is the right fit for you and your family.
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“When I spoke to Marco and Antonio (Pavanello) here, compared to the other people I had spoken to, the entirety of the package was right. Everything kind of clicked. In the first conversation, I felt a connection, felt a strong alignment with the direction.
“There are coaching challenges through language, through where the team were suffering massively last year in the PRO14 before the success in the Rainbow Cup, but for the family fit, proximity back to the UK, for our relations and so on, it kind of just worked. Sometimes when you just find things it’s the right opportunity. It wasn’t the one I was expecting but it felt right.
“We’re in the city which is not too big. Inside the city walls, it is quite small and Treviso sprawls out but we are literally next to the main town square. We have got an apartment right in the centre,” continued the father of three. “The awesome part of life is to give your children opportunity and the opportunity to live abroad was something me and my wife were very keen to do.
“The opportunity to live in a city as beautiful as Treviso and learning another language will give them another tool in life but also even though they are young, resilience and adaptability, key characteristics that you look for as you get older, we can start to instil some of these qualities in our young people, which was one of our driving factors for looking abroad initially.”
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