Robshaw: Coach has paid for our mistakes
being the top man, he has taken the stick for that.”
The hope at Harlequins, then, is that their darkest depth was plumbed against Irish. It has been a week of selfreflection, frank meetings — “harsh truths” was Robshaw’s description — and intense training for players who the England flanker says are determined to end Kingston’s time positively.
The search for Kingston’s replacement has begun — he is likely to come from New Zealand — and may even be announced by the time the season is done. Senior players like Robshaw will be consulted by the club over the recruitment process, and the whole squad will be motivated to impress the new man.
At Kingsholm tomorrow, where five changes have been made, with James Horwill and Jamie Roberts returning, improvement will not be hard to come by. As Robshaw said, against London Irish “we were poor in every facet of the game, whether it was discipline, accuracy, structure, defence, whatever, it was one of those days where nothing went right for us.”
Kingston was in agreement, describing that showing as “totally and utterly unacceptable” and says that “we all owe a performance for the way we performed on Saturday”.
The fans are angry and the players hurt. Quins may have nothing to play for over the next month but, with the chilly winds of changing blowing through a proud club, they have everything to prove.