Harlequins" director of rugby Conor O'Shea ready to lay foundations for dynasty following Premiership triumph Steele's permanent successor, Ian Ritchie, asked O'Shea, the former RFU's director of regional academies, to join a five-man panel in January tasked with identifying the next England head coach after the departure of Martin Johnson, even though O'Shea's own name had already been linked to the job. Harlequins's success, on the heels of last season's Amlin Challenge Cup win, is likely to mean he is linked with other international roles, particularly as a possible successor to Ireland coach Declan Kidney. But the 41 year-old is more than content where he is, and attributes Harlequins" resurgence to his coaching staff and players. He recently signed a new contract with Harlequins to keep him at the Stoop until 2014 and hopes to stay beyond then. He is determined that Saturday's victory, even if it was an historic one for Harlequins, represents the start of a rugby dynasty, not the end of what has been a remarkable journey since the dark, dark days of "Bloodgate." That burning desire for self-improvement led O'Shea to return to his office this morning, already forging ahead with plans for next season. While the rest of his squad went their separate ways on Sunday morning - a club record of nine players returned to the England camp ahead of their tour of South Africa - O'Shea returned to the club's training base in Surrey to ensure everything is in place for the defence of their title when the pre-season begins at the end of next month. O'Shea and his coaching team of John Kingston, Tony Diprose, Colin Osborne and Mark Mapletoft plan to spend time with other coaches this summer to broaden their coaching experiences. The move builds on a hugely successful trip undertaken by Kingston and Diprose to the Canterbury Crusaders last summer. Retaining the title, as Leicester's director of rugby Richard Cockerill knows too well after two successive final defeats, is a difficult business. But for the man who rebuilt Harlequins in the wake of Bloodgate, O'Shea has already shown he is up for a challenge. Appointment of Chris Robshaw as captain The move was O'Shea's first major task and Robshaw's self-less leadership set the tone for repairing the damage caused by "Bloodgate." Magic of mapletoft The hiring of former England Under-20 coach Mark Mapletoft re-energised the Harlequins coaching team and brought new edge to the club's attacking game. Packing punch O'Shea was determined to make Harlequins more than just a side who enjoyed throwing the ball about, putting emphasis in the last 12 months on scrummaging and mauling. Southern influence O'Shea helped set up link between Harlequins and Canterbury Crusaders, with John Kingston and Tony Diprose spending time there last summer on a trip that brought new vision to the club. Turning up heat The decision to take his players to Abu Dhabi the week before the final - training in temperatures of over 40 degrees - proved inspired as his side were able to hit Leicester with a high tempo start despite the heat at Twickenham.