Sean Long back at Harlequins – and he has some unfinished business

The legendary former St Helens and Great Britain scrum-half spent 15 months serving as attack coach at Quins under Paul Gustard.

He left in November 2020 but recently took up a part-time, attack-focused role following the end of his two-year stint in charge of Oldham Roughyeds in rugby league’s second tier.

Long told The Rugby Paper: “I always keep a close eye on rugby union and have kept in touch with Marcus Smith from my first spell at Harlequins.

Diamond

“Marcus will ring me up for advice about his game and we just bounce ideas off each other really.

“I then went down to Harlequins to do some CPD (Continuing Professional Development) and spent a day with them.

“A lot of the staff are still here from before, except Jason Gilmore, who is now the senior coach.

“Toby Booth is an absolute diamond of a bloke, Adam Jones and Nick Evans are there with Jason taking over after Danny Wilson left.

“They’re all great and there are several players left from my previous stint, including Marcus, Alex Dombrandt and Cadan Murley.

“Jason is a Queenslander and we spoke about my skillset as a coach and, after I left Oldham, they asked me about the possibility of coming down one day a week.”

Sean Long pictured with Harlequins back in 2019

Unfinished business

Long’s commitments include reviewing Quins’ games, previewing the opposition, and spending a day at training.

He is not yet involved on gameday but is happy with the current arrangement.

Wigan-based Long added: “I’ve got a bit of unfinished business at Quins and my first spell here definitely helped me when I went back to league with Leeds Rhinos.

“I came away from Quins a better coach and a lot of the skills are transferrable between the codes.

“Since I’ve started back here, it’s all come very naturally to me because the plays, the execution and the timing of attacking shapes are very similar.

“In the last couple of weeks, I think our performances have been improving, especially against Leinster and Bayonne.

“Right now the arrangement works well for both Quins and myself and I’m really happy with how it’s going.

“If there was an opportunity to move back down, my partner and I would be excited at that prospect.

“We’ll see how things develop, but it’s a results-based industry, and if I can help there, then I feel like everyone’s a winner.”

Experience

Long, 49, was one of the greatest league players of his generation and has extensive coaching experience at Salford, St Helens, Leeds, Featherstone and Oldham.

He spent two years at Oldham, which included a promotion a play-off campaign, before leaving at the end of last season.

“Even though I had a year left, it was probably time to do something different,” said Long. “Being a consultant now suits me, but I’m open-minded about the future and any opportunities which may arise.

“I just want to challenge myself and being at Quins in this consultancy role enables me to do that. I’m really enjoying it.”

Long has regular sessions with life coach Craig White, who has worked with the likes of Sir Clive Woodward, Shaun Edwards and Warren Gatland.