By George Davis
Harlequins Head Coach Danny Wilson was full of praise for his defence coach Jason Gilmore, after his side has conceded just two tries across their opening two Premiership games.
The West Londoners recruited Gilmore from the NSW Waratahs over the summer and Wilson is pleased over the Australians involvement so far.
“We looked at targeting a defensive improvement, spent a lot of time around pre-season working on defence, we employed a new defence coach (Jason Gilmore) and I think that’s taking big strides forward.
“Especially in the Sale game, maybe not in the first 20 minutes of the Newcastle game I thought we were a little bit off in that area and so did Jason, so we’ve addressed that”, added Wilson. But on the whole over the period we have been in since the break our defence has improved and is improving.”
The Harlequins head coach also highlighted Gilmore’s ability to correct his sides defence during a game.
“The thing that stands out for me is his on-field coaching. As a coach you have something called coaching in the red where you are fault correcting on the run at high speeds, then you have the skillset of a coach that is analysing that on video and giving feedback afterwards,” added the 48-year-old.
“I think Jason’s in the red coaching is excellent, he sees things on the field rather than on the video afterwards. The second thing is his clarity of system; this is how we are going to defend, if they ask the question he has an answer.”
And Quins will need their defence to be in top shape on Friday night as they visit the Champions Northampton Saints at Franklin’s Gardens.
“Both teams have a unique style and identity and with the fast track they have there it kind of invites an exciting game of rugby. They will be at home which is obviously an advantage for them, and we go there as underdogs, but we are excited about it.”
New signing Rodrigo Isgro could also feature for Danny WIlson’s team, the Argentine fresh off the plane from the Rugby Championship.
“We welcomed him yesterday and he has trained a little bit today, not on the field but in the gym and bits and pieces and he is getting settled which is great.
“He’s a big winger, a big lad. We are looking forward to getting him on the field, our back three has picked up a number of injuries right now so it’s good timing and we could get him out there in the coming weeks.”
Young winger Cassius Cleaves also faces a “medium term” on the sidelines after a hamstring injury against Newcastle while centre Luke Northmore is also unavailable this weekend.
Former Welsh international Leigh Halfpenny also has question marks over his fitness for this Friday night’s game after he suffered an impact injury to his shoulder.