Nick Easter an 'unbelievable servant', says coach John Kingston
Friday 29 July 2016 12:08, UK
Harlequins' director of rugby has led the tributes to Number 8 Nick Easter after he announced his retirement from rugby.
Easter, 37, has announced he will hang up his boots and has accepted a coaching position from the club for whom he made a record-breaking 281 appearances.
The 54-times capped England international will join former national forwards coach Graham Rowntree in a new-look Harlequins coaching set-up that also includes head coach Mark Mapletoft and skills coach Collin Osborne and led by director of rugby John Kingston.
Speaking of the club stalwart's move into coaching, Kingston said: "Nick has been an unbelievable servant to the Harlequins team for over a decade,
"He has been at the very heartbeat of all the successes the side has achieved over this period.
"Nick has a fantastic rugby brain and it is for this reason I offered him the opportunity to join the new look coaching team at the Club.
"Both Nick and I have agreed it is in the best interests of Quins that he focuses on his coaching exclusively from now.
"While a Quins team without him may seem strange at first, his influence on the group will, if anything, be even greater in his new role as first XV defence coach."
Easter, who admitted he struggled for motivation to play towards the end of last season, has made the decision based on his desire to concentrate on his new role as the club's defence coach.
"Having accepted the opportunity to become a coach-player by John Kingston, I took some time to think about my career," Easter said.
"I realised that whether I'm playing or coaching, there was no possible way that I would be able to give 100 per cent to both of my roles at the same time.
"I thought, why not grab the opportunity of becoming a coach with both hands, give it my best shot and feel privileged to be in a position to go out on my own terms after 12 great years as a player for Harlequins?
"I'm a few weeks into my role now and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Having had five weeks in the off-season to finalise it and four weeks now as a coach, I don't regret my decision. I can't wait for the new season to begin."
