Evans steps in as Brooke departs

13 April 2012

Harlequins chief executive Mark Evans is to take over temporary charge of the team while the club searches for a successor to Zinzan Brooke who resigned as head coach last night.

Evans, who joined Quins last year after 20 years as player and coach at Saracens, insisted the club will not rush into making an appointment.

He said: "There is nobody lined up, nobody waiting in the wings. We will probably appoint towards the end of this season.

"It will all come down to the availability and type of candidates who present themselves."

Quins face a huge test on Saturday when they face Leicester in the semi-finals of the Tetley's Bitter Cup.

And Evans stressed he will be looking for support from his senior international players including captain David Wilson of Australia, Jason Leonard of England, Keith Wood of Ireland, Garrick Morgan of Australia and Eric Peters of Scotland to help guide the club through this tricky period.

Evans said: "The senior players are pretty empowered at the club and I would be looking to continue that."

Wilson, who joined Quins this season, said: "As players we have to take a fair bit of responsibility for the performances of late.

"Zinzan felt a large amount of the responsibility was his.

"Hopefully, we will start to see better results in the new year. We are disappointed he resigned but we have to focus on the job in hand. We face Leicester in a very important game and we hope to turn things around."

Brooke quit with Quins second from bottom in the Zurich Premiership and after two disappointing performances in the league.

The 35-year-old All Black legend, who joined Quins as player-coach in 1998, talked over his position on Sunday and the decision was announced last night.

He said: "Although the side have turned in a number of fine performances, the results in the Premiership have not been acceptable,"

Evans said the club had already received two applications for Brooke's post.

And he revealed that if Richard Hill, the former England scrum-half, who is assistant coach applied for the job then he would be "a strong candidate."

Evans added: "We are not that far off - I truly believe that - and against Northampton in the last round of the Cup I thought we might have turned the corner.

"Leicester presents a very tough assignment. It's no coincidence they are top of the table and they present a challenge which the blokes will have to grasp."

Leicester have returned 1,000 tickets for Saturday's semi-final at The Stoop and providing these tickets are sold then the gate will be the biggest at Quins for almost 10 years.

Evans steps in as Brooke departs

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