turner...again

I first asked Paul how well he knew Quins and the set up. “I was with Sale for four years which is where I first played against Harlequins. They were always one of the big clubs and played a brand of rugby that I like. I really enjoyed coming here and they are a team I would love to have played for.”

“With the new management at Gloucester I didn’t think it was going to work. I live in St Albans and so the journey was difficult. I had one year left on my contract and so we decided to cancel that. I was only at Gloucester for eight months all in all so it wasn’t difficult to leave. There was a big French influence at Gloucester so it wasn’t going to be easy to get players like Ludovic Mercier to play my way.”

Paul has been impressed with the Quins backs since he joined. “I’ve been here for eight weeks and I’ve really enjoyed it. I worked with Will Greenwood when I coached the North a few years ago, He’s a class player. I’ve been impressed with Chris Bell. With his physique he would have walked into the England side a few years ago. I think he’s on his way to gaining international honours.”

“I’ve been very impressed with some of the younger players like Luke Sherriff, Karl Horstmann, Ben Gollings and Nathan Williams. I haven’t had much chance to work with Nick Duncombe because he spent a lot of time with the England Sevens squad and has been injured the past couple of weeks.”

I asked Paul about his ideas for at Half Back as there was some criticism of the way that Quins played towards the end of the season. “Paul Burke has always been a very good player. David Slemen brings something different to the table and Ben Gollings could be a third Number Ten. I think I can get them all to play the Paul Turner way. I think the kicking game to which you are referring was due to a lack of confidence following defeat after defeat. You’re not always going to be able to turn all of them into running players but you can add some extra with innovative coaching. I think one of the big things to get right this season will be the set piece. This will allow the half backs to play a bit more.”

Will Greenwood has been impressed with Paul Turner since his arrival and compared his methods with his predecessor Richard Hill. “Tommy (Turner) and Hilly are both great coaches. Hilly would concentrate more on basic skill levels whilst Tommy likes to engage the cranial matter. Hilly wasn’t the most naturally talented player so he practised and practised and turned himself into an international player. Tommy was born with natural talent and that is reflected in his coaching.”

Turner thinks that Quins were competitive last season. “ No one really tanked us last season. Eighty per cent of the difference between winning and losing games was confidence.” Any predictions for the ZP this season? “We haven’t set any targets. We just want to become more consistent and get this club back to the top.”

And before I could ask any more questions he took a quick side step and was off to take afternoon training.

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