WHOEVER becomes the new Harlequins director of rugby will have to work with the club's existing coaching staff.

That was the message from chief executive Mark Evans (pictured) this week, as Quins stepped up their search for a successor to Dean Richards, who departed in the summer as part of the fall-out from the 'Bloodgate' scandal.

Evans insisted that John Kingston, Collin Osborne and Tony Diprose will all keep their jobs.

He said: "John has been in the game since it went professional, and even before that. Technically, he's excellent, and the players like him.

"Collin has been at the club for 15 years and is a super attack coach, and Tony Diprose has got a great rugby brain. He is going to be an exceptional coach. They all get on well, so why would we want to change that?"

Evans clearly has specific targets in mind, but would not be drawn on whether those people had applied. He hopes the turmoils of the summer will not deter the best candidates from applying.

"We've got our preferences, but we've had quite a few approaches. We had quite a stable structure that got blown apart, and that's a shame.

"Obviously I'm biased, but I would like to think the fundamentals of the club and the way it is progressing are an attractive proposition."