Harlequins' fans demand Kingston's resignation
London Irish, who stand on the brink of being relegated, bagged a 35–5 bonus point victory away from home, a result that has raised the ire of Harlequins fans online, many of whom want to see Director of Rugby John Kingston stand down.
Harlequins losing 22-0 to the bottom side in the league at half time. Utterly dismal, shameful performance. #HARvLIR #Kingstonout pic.twitter.com/YlZUb9ItCr
— Paul Parker (@pzparker) April 7, 2018
London Irish have won three Premiership matches all season, and two of those wins have been the double over Harlequins.
Quins now sit ninth in the table, with seven wins and thirteen losses to their name. Even Chris Robshaw felt the need to apologise, given the nature of the loss:
Sorry to everyone that came to the Stoop yesterday. A terrible performance by us. We will continue to work to be better #Quins
— Chris Robshaw (@ChrisRobshaw) April 8, 2018
The Harlequins Twitter account tweeted that Kingston was quoted giving the following reaction to the loss: "We never got going, Irish played well and we were lethargic from the start and didn't get anything going and it just got worse. We've slipped into another substandard performance and I'm first to say, it's not acceptable."
Reaction | JK: "We never got going, Irish played well and we were lethargic from the start and didn't get anything going and it just got worse. We've slipped into another substandard performance and I'm first to say, it's not acceptable." #HARvLIR
— Harlequins 🃏 (@Harlequins) April 7, 2018
The tweet alone received over a hundred replies and will not have made for pleasant reading for Kingston. The following Tweets give a flavour of the mood among fans.
A DOR needs to motivate the coaching staff and the team. Today’s performance was abject and there have been too many poor performances. The buck stops with you JK. It’s obvious you’ve lost the team and don’t have a handle on the coaching staff. It’s time to go.
— Marc (@puddymarc) April 7, 2018
Is that it?? It was an absolute embarrassment and all you can say is "It's not acceptable"?
Do yourself a favour and resign.
— Liam Noctor (@Gaaangle) April 7, 2018
You ate not acceptable JK to any Harlequins supporter. For the sake of the future of the club stop thinking about the cash in your pocket and do the honourable think and resign
— Richard Knight (@focalrichard) April 7, 2018
Sorry jk no excuses left. Time for the board to step up and take decisive action. Feel sorry for the dressing room and great talent we have. Lions lead by donkeys.
— Emily C Boynton (@ecb4hampton) April 7, 2018
Why were we lethargic John? We just had a weekend off? Are you and your coaches unable to motivate the team?
— Adrian Brown (@akbrown00) April 7, 2018
I’ve been a loyal season ticket holder and avid supporter for 20 years. Today was the worst of all of those games. Kingston didn’t even have the backbone to be on the sidelines at end of the game. The players didn’t perform today, but he consistently hasn’t #KingstonOut and now!
— Daniel Burge (@danielburge) April 7, 2018
Even Andy Goode, who was in Hong Kong at the Sevens, questioned what exactly is going on at Harlequins. "What's going on at that club?! Big questions to be asked, is it coaches, players or the culture? Tough times at the Stoop serious answers needed!"
Oh my @Harlequins! What’s going on at that club?! Big questions to be asked, is it coaches, players or the culture? Tough times at the Stoop serious answers needed!
— Andy Goode (@AndyGoode10) April 7, 2018
Troubled times at Harlequins indeed.
By Colin Brooke, @RugbyPass
