Paul Gustard speaks following shock Harlequins exit
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Paul Gustard has broken his silence following his unexpected Harlequins exit back in January of this year.
The 45-year-old left the club by mutual consent in order to "enable him to pursue other opportunities" after two and a half years in charge.
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Gustard, who is now Benetton's new defence coach, has broken his silence after seven months, saying:
"If I have a foot in the past I will never move forward and I know the amount of work I did.
“There are always two sides to a story and I don’t feel the need to say anything. My track record, what I have won as a coach and where I took the club from where they were to where they are now, speaks for itself. I’m delighted for the coaching group I assembled together there, delighted for (head of athletic performance) Gareth Tong, the strength and conditioning staff and the medical staff.
“And I’m delighted for most of the players because for them they worked really hard for two, three seasons and a lot of those guys I brought in. When you bring people to a club, you want them to do well because you put your name to their signings and you also believe in them.
“So, I am pleased for them and pleased for the fans. I had a lot of support from lots of fans and criticism from others, but that is the way it lands. It is not always down to one person but there were certainly some things that went wrong on my fault and lots of things that went well which were also down to me. I am pleased for them, happy for them but I move forward with my life, my family and move forward with Benetton.”
Reflecting on his tenure, the former England assistant added: “I said at the beginning of the season that squad – if it stayed together – there was a great starting 23 there. The team compared to three years ago when they finished joint eleventh before I came in is remarkably different. You could probably see from the team the kind of direction the club was heading in, it was to try and build a squad that could stay together for a long period, just as I had experienced at Saracens.”
After leaving Harlequins which went on to secure silverware in June, Gustard has moved to another fresh from an historic triumph.
Benetton finished bottom of the regular Guinness PRO14 season after a winless 16 league fixtures but regrouped for the Rainbow Cup to reach the final, where they dismantled South African opposition Blues 35-8.
What's been happening with our Scottish and Italian teams 👇
— United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) August 17, 2021
👔 Big shoes to fill at @BenettonRugby
🔙 Former player at @EdinburghRugby helm
🔑 Key deals for @GlasgowWarriors
✨ @ZebreRugby sign 7 new players#URC
“It is hugely exciting,” the experienced coach said. “If you look at some of the teams, Leinster have been a heavyweight of European rugby over the last six or seven years, Munster are another so there are multiple teams who would sit firmly in the Premiership top half.
“With the South African sides coming into it, it will offer a different challenge to what I normally face.
“It is hard at whatever level you play at in elite sport to win trophies and we were unbeaten in the Rainbow Cup so we go into the season on a high and with momentum. Now we need to build on it.”
