Paul Gustard has revealed he was pleased to see Harlequins win the Gallagher Premiership title, but is eager to draw a line on his shock January exit after starting a "hugely exciting" new challenge at Benetton.

The former England assistant left his role with the London club at the beginning of 2021, six months before the end of the campaign following a poor start to the season.

While Gustard conceded he made mistakes during his two and a half years in the capital, he remains proud of his work at Quins, who produced a remarkable turnaround in form to beat Exeter in the play-off final at Twickenham.

"If I have a foot in the past I will never move forward and I know the amount of work I did," Benetton's new defence coach told the PA news agency.

"There is always two sides to a story and I don't feel the need to say anything. I think my track record, what I have won as a coach and where I took the club from where they were to where they are now speaks for itself.

"I am delighted for the coaching group I assembled together there, delighted for (head of athletic performance) Gareth Tong, the strength and conditioning staff and the medical staff.

"And I am delighted for most of the players, because for them they worked really hard for two, three seasons and a lot of those guys I brought in. When you bring people to a club, you want them to do well because you put your name to their signings and you also believe in them.

"So, I am pleased for them and pleased for the fans. I had a lot of support from lots of fans and criticism from others, but that is the way it lands.

"It is not always down to one person but there were certainly some things that went wrong on my fault and lots of things that went well which were also down to me. I am pleased for them, happy for them but I move forward with my life, my family and move forward with Benetton."

Following Gustard's shock exit by mutual consent, a coaching committee led by general manager Billy Millard was tasked with salvaging a season which started with four defeats out of six before a painful 27-27 draw at home to London Irish.

"It is hugely exciting," the experienced coach said. "If you look at some of the teams, Leinster have been a heavyweight of European rugby over the last six or seven years, Munster are another so there are multiple teams who would sit firmly in the Premiership top half.

"With the South African sides coming into it, it will offer a different challenge to what I normally face.

"It is hard at whatever level you play at in elite sport to win trophies and we were unbeaten in the Rainbow Cup so we go into the season on a high and with momentum. Now we need to build on it."