Nick Easter's tenure at Worcester Warriors ended abruptly when the club entered administration on the day he completed a house purchase in the area. Now, he returns to Sixways as head coach of Chinnor, the underdog side looking to complete an unlikely treble in the first round of the Elior Champ Rugby play-offs.
After a three-month stint with Worcester, where the former England and Harlequins number eight served as forwards and defence coach, Easter joined third-tier Chinnor. What seemed an unlikely landing spot has become a perfect match. Chinnor have been the surprise package in the Championship this season, and they aim to spring another shock when they face Worcester in Saturday's quarter-final. Five months ago, they became the first team to beat the reformed Warriors at their own ground.
Reflecting on his time at Sixways, Easter said: "It wasn't a nice period because I'd moved the family to a place we hadn't been before, but you've got to make it work. You're calling up who you can, exhausting your field of communication and network to find the opportunity. The worst thing you can do is sit and wallow because there was a period where they might be bought out and saved. But ultimately, most people knew the writing was on the wall."
Easter joined Chinnor at the end of November as director of rugby, a step up from his previous assistant coach roles. "They were struggling with two wins from 11 and I thought 'what a great challenge'. It was an opportunity to develop and learn some new skill sets. It's led us to where we are now. It's a wonderful club with great people and I'm thoroughly enjoying it," he added.
Chinnor's remarkable success is largely due to former player, captain, and CEO Simon Vickers, who oversaw the club's rise through the rugby pyramid before his passing in April. Easter admitted he is still coming to terms with not being able to share the journey with Vickers. "He was quite an unbelievable guy. They wouldn't be where they are now without him. It is surreal, no longer is he going to be popping in, or I'm popping into him for our bi-weekly chats. But the family are right behind everything that he has built and so is everyone else at the club. Since his sad passing, we've had our best two crowds ever. People are still talking about what he's done and continuing to build on his legacy."
As a part-time club that trains only twice a week, Chinnor head to Worcester as underdogs, even after completing the double over the former Premiership outfit. However, Easter insists the favourites tag belongs to the home team. Worcester come into the game off the back of four straight defeats, including a loss at Chinnor in April, the first game after Vickers' passing.
For Easter, the key to a hat-trick of wins over his former team will be maintaining the physicality that has become Chinnor's hallmark. "There is a different mentality with do-or-die rugby, but we have to stay true to our DNA, which has got us this far. We pride ourselves on our physicality in terms of giving nothing free to the opposition. And then it's about being clinical. I don't think we've been too clinical the last two weeks; we've left a lot of tries out there. Coming into knockout rugby, it's teams that take their chances that do well. Worcester are still the favourites, they are at home, they are the full-time side. I know we beat them twice, but they have guys with a lot of experience of these sorts of games. There is a bit more expectation but we have got to embrace that. We know how to beat them but they also know how we have won, so they will spend time on forensic detail, making sure it doesn't happen a third time. It makes it very hard to beat anyone three times in a season."
