Few people in rugby can have applied the old adage ‘quit while you’re ahead’ to their sporting lives to the same degree as Pat Howard.
At the tender age of 32 as Leicester head coach, Howard won the league and cup double in 2007 only to pack it all in and return home to Australia.
In that sense, he is the coaching equivalent of Barry John or David Kirk in bowing out at the top while still having so much to offer.
The demolition of Gloucester in the Premiership final followed on from an equally exhilarating performance against Ospreys in the EDF Energy Cup final. But an unprecedented trebl...