Gustard should tell it as it is more often

POST-MATCH “flash” interviews by broadcasters have long been a source of discomfort for coaches, who are prone to making illconsidered comments when they have had no time to consider them.

Warren Gatland, who had his fair share of good days on the airwaves, tended to squirm whenever he spotted Sonja McLaughlan of the BBC heading his way.

He knew Sonja to be a courageous interviewer with a capacity to ask the difficult questions while shrugging off the icy stares accompanying the answers.

Interviews of the pre-match kind tend to be less interesting.

Last weekend, the Harlequins coach Paul Gustard gave the BT Sport audience the entirely predictable news that his players were in good form and approaching their game with Racing 92 with confidence.

It was not until a few days after the Londoners’ 49-7 home defeat that Gustard struck a more discordant note.

His team had been “off the pace” during their warm-up, he confessed. “There was no talk, no noise, no energy.”

How refreshing it would have been if, in that chat before kickoff, he had said: “Actually, I’m really worried about today. Racing are a brilliant team, we’re in a rubbish place and if we play like we’ve just prepared, we’ll get humped.”