When to let go of one’s playing career is the hardest decision for those lucky enough to be able to make it on their own terms. Nick Easter’s has just got easier.
Still going strong on the field at 37, Easter’s appointment as Harlequins defence coach has taken the pressure off when, if ever, he announces the end of his days as a Quins player.
“I didn’t foresee it like this,” he said. “But it’ll make that decision easier. I might realise, actually, I’ve had a good run; it’s now time to move on.
“You don’t want to put yourself out there like so many have before, when you’re still punchdrunk, still trying to produce the goods, still thinking you can. If I feel, four months in, I’m done with this, then I’m at peace with that decision. I’m not cutting off completely.”
In announcing the appointment John Kingston, Quins’ next director of rugby, went to some lengths to explain that Easter was to be a coach, first and foremost, and only then a player. The pressure on his time is about to intensify, having to find the hours in the day to fulfil his training responsibilities as a player outside the lengthy meetings and analysis sessions that are the lot of the coach.
Then there is the precarious balance he must tread between being one of the boys and one of the teachers. It is far easier to lecture people about how to play the game if one is absolved from scrutiny in that department oneself. “That’s probably going to be the hardest part, in all honesty. How I create that separation,” he said.
“There’s still some really good mates there. And I’ve got to play with them. Telling them off in here and then lacing up boots next door two minutes later, trying to have a laugh and a joke having just ripped into them – getting that balance right is key. I’ve got to be myself. I’ll make loads of mistakes but I’ll be honest and hungry and work as hard as I can.”
Easter has discussed the transition with Mike Catt, who played and coached at London Irish for the last two years of his playing career, and hopes to do so with Mike Tindall, who did the same for a year at Gloucester. The key, according to Catt, is to know that coaching is what you want to do next. Easter confirms that he does, having spent the past couple of seasons coaching at Wimbledon Rugby Club. He has been assisted there by Nick Evans, who now takes over.
It has been a trying season for Easter, which began on 22 June last year, when he injured his back in his very first weights session at Pennyhill Park in preparation for the World Cup. He has since played a full part in Quins’ campaign, which will culminate in the Challenge Cup final against Montpellier in Lyon. Along the way he lost his father to Parkinson’s in January.
Now, though, he has the security of a new job at a club he knows as well as anyone. With that comfort he can make the decision on his playing days in his own time.
