Starting a top coaching job and assuming ownership of the team in question are two separate tasks with very different time frames.
Last summer, Paul Gustard plunged into his role of Harlequins head of rugby at the earliest possible opportunity. Touching down on the Heathrow Airport runway at 5.30am on Monday, June 25 – less than 48 hours after England’s third Test against South Africa in Cape Town, his last assignment as Eddie Jones’ defence coach – he picked up his car from Pennyhill Park and drove to Guildford.
By 7.30am, he had reached Surrey Sports Park. Half an hour later, Gustard was overseeing a pre-season session. By the end of July, Graham Rowntree, Nick Easter and Collin Osborne, all part of John Kingston’s backroom staff, had left the club. Gustard appointed a new forwards guru in Alex Codling.
Nine months later, the process of pruning his playing group is ongoing. Over the past fortnight, Harlequins have announced the names of 12 signings for the 2019-20 campaign with Gustard falling back upon his contacts and experience.
Of the arrivals, Argentina scrum-half Martin Landajo and Italy centre Michele Campagnaro, joining from Wasps, have been dangerous opponents in the international arena. Will Evans, a 22 year-old Leicester Tigers back-rower, was fast-tracked into Jones’ 45-man Elite Player Squad three years ago, two months after being named in the Under-20 World Championship team of the tournament alongside James Ryan and Jordie Barrett. Gustard evidently remembers him fondly.

 
Such an influx has brought excitement for fans. However, the party that Gustard inherited from Kingston featured over 25 individuals embarking on the final year of their contracts. Eleven of those, including Danny Care and Jack Clifford, have signed extensions. Gustard has opted to cut ties with others.

“It’s tough,” admits the 43 year-old. “It’s not a pleasant part of the job. On a smaller scale, when you pick a match-day 23, there are guys who are disappointed not to be playing. I don’t like seeing people disappointed but I’ve got to do what I think is right for the club.”
This is where multi-tasking and man-management are essential. Harlequins lie fourth in the Premiership, still on course for a play-off place, and face Worcester in the European Challenge Cup quarter-final at Sixways on Saturday. Yet, while Exeter and Saracens see very little turnover most summers due to the settled nature of their respective coaching regimes, the Gustard era is at the egg-breaking stage of its omelette. Around 15 Harlequins players, just under a third of the senior playing staff, remain out of contract.
Lock George Merrick is also France-bound, heading to Clermont. Promising loosehead prop Lewis Boyce has sorted a deal with Bath. Those are the two confirmed leavers. As many as 13 more are likely to be announced in the coming months.

 
Centre Alofa Alofa appears destined for Bayonne. Luke Wallace, one of the most effective scavenging openside flankers in the English club game over recent years, has seen just seven first-team matches since September. Bristol and Leicester are reportedly interested.

Charlie Walker, the creative wing who scored 11 tries in all competitions last season, has played just six times in the same period. Both seem surplus to requirements, and proving your worth to prospective employers can be difficult without a shop window.
“Guys will move for different reasons, and they know those reasons from my conversations with them,” Gustard adds. “Sometimes it’s because I can’t give them the opportunities that they need.

 
“Sometimes I can’t compete with what money is being paid. Other times I want to freshen the squad up and bring someone in that will help with the direction that we’re heading.
“The signings are announced because supporters want to know who is coming to the club. For me, it’s irrelevant for the rest of the season. They can’t win Quins the league or the Cup. That’s next year’s situation and next year’s squad.”
Billy Millard, Harlequins’ general manager, started alongside Gustard as Harlequins opted to split Kingston’s exhaustive job spec. He oversees the women’s section and also describes his post as one that shields Gustard from “noise and off-field distractions”. For instance, Millard will attend meetings for directors of rugby, look after budgets and keep an eye on the club’s junior pathway. “My ego went out the window six years ago,” he adds.

Having been a head coach of Australia Sevens and held on-field posts at University of Sydney, Melbourne Rebels, Cardiff Blues and Connacht before switching to the administrative side of rugby, Millard is familiar with the all-consuming “rollercoaster” that Gustard is strapped into.


Talent identification, he insists, is “Gussy’s baby”. Millard offers knowledge of Pro 14 and Super Rugby. Ed Spokes, Harlequins’ head of recruitment, deals with agents. Major Andy Sanger, a former bomb disposal specialist who coached the British Army men’s side, joined last May as a player development manager and has an important pastoral role.
As Millard explains, Gustard’s wingmen – Codling, attack coach Mark Mapletoft, skills and off-the-ball coach Nick Evans and scrum coach Adam Jones – are constantly scanning for recruits.
“You are watching the game live, you have a review when they get to see the opposition again. Then you’re previewing. You are watching a lot of rugby.
“And even when players pop up outside of the English system, it’s so easy to get hold of their last three games.”

One thing is abundantly clear: Gustard has a strong mandate to re-mould. His current scrum-half situation demonstrates the potential complications. With Care, Niall Saunders and Charlie Mulchrone injured last month, he loaned Luke Baldwin from Worcester.

Baldwin is cup-tied for Europe, so Scotland international Sam Hidalgo-Clyne has been drafted in. Might Gustard tap up Baldwin, returning to Worcester in a fortnight, for some inside knowledge?
The short answer is no. Gustard says he would rather not compromise a player’s integrity and estimates that he has watched Worcester play 12 times on top of their two league meetings with Harlequins. Hard-nosed and diligent, he also cites conversations with Ben Te’o, Perry Humphreys and Ryan Mills at England camps down the years as preparation material.
Harlequins may yet add to their 12 recruits, although Millard says they are “pretty much done” for 2019-20. Then the future will be more securely in Gustard’s hands.