Execution is key says pragmatic Quin Kingston
HARLEQUINS boss John Kingston insists a more pragmatic approach does not signal the abandonment of the club’s attacking principles.
The Stoop outfit have built their crowd and reputation on a commitment to open, attacking rugby but have been found wanting in recent seasons.
However, Kingston, right, who took over from Conor O’Shea in June, explained: “I’m not prepared to play by numbers, but what I am prepared to do is give the players a slightly more structured situation in terms of available options.
“One thing that needed thinking through was clearing our lines. It’s not just about Danny Care kicking the ball, it’s about 15 men setting the thing up correctly and everybody committing to the kick and putting pressure on.
“Yes, we’re trying to be a bit more pragmatic in our own third, but equally, we still want to have a go and that’s great. The key thing is execution because if it’s not there you’re made to look silly, but we’ve been working on that.”
Quins struggled during international periods last season, but Kingston is convinced they have greater armoury this time around following the arrivals of halfbacks Ruaridh Jackson and Charlie Mulchrone and fullback Aaron Morris.
He said: “We’ve dipped over a number of years in those situations and we were a bit unlucky last year when Nick Evans, Karl Dickson, George Lowe and Marland Yarde got injured during the Six Nations period as well.
“We’ll be looking at the balance of our squad over the next couple of seasons, specifically next summer, but I’ve managed to make some changes this year and I believe we have got good players to cover those situations.”
Mike Brown and Yarde have not featured in preseason but Kingston hopes both will be available for Saturday’s opener against Bristol. He added: “In an ideal world you’d want both to have had game time but I wasn’t risking people who weren’t 100 per cent ready.
“With people of their experience, though, you wouldn’t worry about them coming in for that first game and we hope they’ll be ready.”
Meanwhile, Harlequins prop Joe Marler says he “can cope with stuff under pressure now that things on and off the field are rosy”. He was fined £20,000 and given a two-week ban for calling Wales’ Samson Lee “Gypsy boy” during the Six Nations. He was banned for a further two weeks for kicking Grenoble hooker Arnaud Heguy on his return and then asked to miss England’s tour to Australia.
Marler, 26, said: “I was driving home when I was like, ‘I don’t want to be here’. I just didn’t have it in me.
“I told Eddie Jones the following day and he was really good about it, wished me luck and that was it.
“I wouldn’t want to be running around the field with someone who is there just to pick up a pay cheque. I thought about what I would have thought as a kid if I saw my hero, or a player I looked up to, just going through the motions.”
Marler, who has 42 England caps, was also given a formal warning for posting an obscene tweet about former Australia coach Bob Dwyer in June.
Harlequins’ opener against Bristol is part of the Double Header at Twickenham Stadium and Marler feels he is now capable of dealing with the pressure.
“Everything is hunky dory at the moment but as Mike Tyson said, ‘everyone has a plan until you get punched in the face’. But I can cope with stuff under pressure now that things on and off the field are rosy.”