Visionary Conor O’Shea sets sail for Italy with warning to Premiership | The Breakdown

The outgoing Harlequins director of rugby fears a growing hunger for short-term success could threaten players’ wellbeing and cause problems for EnglandWhen Conor O’Shea was appointed Harlequins’ director of rugby at the end of 2009, the club were reeling from the Bloodgate scandal that had landed the former holder of the post, Dean Richards, with a three-year ban. There were other casualties from the decision to simulate an injury with a fake blood capsule at the end of a Heineken Cup match with Leinster but, more than six years on, O’Shea can sign off with a European trophy and close the cir…