Inside the Harlequins chaos: Missed transfer targets, training ground bust-ups, what players thought of the head coach who walked out two weeks before the season - and how it's hurting Marcus Smith

Towards the end of last season, Danny Care had to intervene to diffuse a bust-up at Harlequins training.

‘Boys, what the f*** is going on here?’ said the now-retired scrum-half.

Danny Wilson, the former coach, was nose-to-nose with one of the locks and neither was prepared to give an inch. Tensions were high in the Quins camp. Results were disappointing and there was a lack of harmony around the club’s direction of travel.

So, while the timing of Wilson’s exit to join Wales days before the new season came as a shock to the players, it was not altogether a surprise.

Harlequins are a club with a proud history and a clear DNA. They are rugby’s entertainers, priding themselves on their gung-ho attack ever since Mr Stoop himself was playing in the early 1900s.

The approach has been tempered over the years but the principles remain, passed down from one senior player to another. The unofficial mantra has been: ‘We’re going to score one more than you.’ It has been a club of player power, where those on the pitch have as much input as those off it.

Some love it, some hate it. ‘It’s been like the lunatics run the asylum at times,’ said one former player. ‘It’s not had the discipline of other clubs and that swings both ways.’

Over the last five years, the attacking play has regressed. The average tries-per-game has fallen by 25 per cent and the do-or-die attitude was harnessed as Wilson tried to impose more discipline and structure.

Last season, players say there was more focus on ruck and breakdown drills in training. Less time was committed towards the offloading game that helped Quins win their most recent Premiership title, back in 2021.

More contestable kicking, less adventure in the 22, less risk. It helped Harlequins reach the semi-finals of the Champions Cup last year. But it was not a natural relationship. Their final league position, seventh, was their worst for seven years.

‘Danny wanted a more conservative game,’ said one player. ‘If you don’t have front-foot ball, kick off nine. There’s obviously logic behind that but it’s not the Quins way. 

'Up until the halfway line, maybe 45 metres out from the opposition try-line, the plan would often be to kick it. Sometimes it worked because Will Porter’s kicks were very good, but the balance shifted too far. That’s not the philosophy of someone like Marcus Smith. It affected his game.

‘Danny’s a Leicester type of coach, a Sale type of coach, but the Harlequins DNA is different. He wanted us to change but you can’t change Quins. If you want to change the DNA of Quins, you’re going to have a problem.

'Danny wasn’t the right guy for Quins but that doesn’t make him a bad coach. He was appointed by the guys above him.’

There has been a churn of head coaches at the club. Paul Gustard, Tabai Matson and now Wilson. Yet the support team around them has remained largely the same.

Club captain Jack Walker spoke positively about Wilson’s coaching abilities last week yet they are still searching for the right blend. Many say the problems run deeper than the man in the hot seat.

Quins have one of the best supporter groups in the country and remain one of the most attractive brands in the league. Yet on the pitch, the squad have lacked punch. 

They moved to strengthen their resources over the summer, building a core of Argentinians - bringing in loose forward Guido Petti from Bordeaux and a pair of props in Boris Wenger and Pedro Delgado - but have still not found a world-class replacement for Andre Esterhuizen.

The Springbok centre’s power created space for Smith to work his magic but the club failed in bids to recruit Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu, Argentinian Santiago Chocobares and Tongan Solomone Kata. Ben Waghorn is as a long-term prospect but needs time to develop.

‘If you want to play a certain style, you need to recruit that style of player,’ said one club source. ‘That comes through recruitment and we never properly replaced Andre.

‘Recruitment and retention is a thorny issue within the club. Players feel like the dialogue isn’t open enough – making players wait until the end of the season so they can get a cheaper price. They let players go to the market when others would tie them up early. Players talk. It affects morale.’

When Wilson announced his departure, there was a sense of inevitability within the camp that Jason Gilmore would step up. Franco Smith would have been a leading candidate to come in, but he recently signed a contract extension with Glasgow. 

Gilmore has a low-profile in English rugby but, aged 55, the Australian is a senior and popular figure with the players. He has experience with the Waratahs and Reds in Super Rugby and Australia's A and Under 20s sides, and joined Quins as defence coach a year ago.

‘Coaching Quins isn’t an easy gig,’ said one club source. ‘We’ve seen a few coaches struggle. The dynamics of the club are difficult. In London, you’ve got players living all over the place.

'Everyone’s in a difference stage of their lives. You’ve got some players who are making more money out-of-rugby than in-rugby. It’s different to a club in a small town where everyone has beers together and spends time together after training. You’ve got a real mix and it’s a difficult thing to get the balance right on a human side.

‘Gilly is a good guy to lead it. You need a people person. He loves humans so he will drive that part of it. The guys love him.  He makes jokes, greets you every day, one of the lads. Right now, he’s the best guy for the club to move forward.’