OXFORD Harlequins have assembled a “dream team” of coaches to take the club to the next level.

The South West 1 East side will be led by a group boasting experience of Championship, Premiership and even international rugby as they target promotion in 2020/21.

Quins have retained the services of Pete Davies and Keni Fisilau as head coaches of the first team and academy respectively.

Meanwhile, Jon Vermont joins from Wasps to take charge of the forwards and Martin Nutt steps up from the playing squad to fill the role of defence coach.

Quins currently play at level six of the English game, but director of rugby Stuart Wells hopes the new appointments will help them rise up the pyramid.

“It creates a bit of a dream team,” he said.

“The bigger picture is that we’re very ambitious and we’ve got our sights on promotion.

“This team could easily coach in National 2 or 3 and that’s intentional.

“We want to attract the players that will benefit from that level of experience.

“I think the boys understand where we want to go and completely buy into it.

“We probably have the best facility in the region and a lot of it is trying to match the ambitions of the club with the status of the city.”

Quins will look to use last season’s fourth-place finish as a platform next season, which could start as late as October depending on lockdown restrictions.

Vermont will combine his duties at Horspath Sports Ground with a dual role as senior academy analyst at Wasps.

The forwards coach brings six years of experience to the table as a performance analyst at the Premiership club, who he helped reach a domestic final and European semi-final in 2016.

He said: “Oxford Harlequins are clearly a team who are working towards big things in the next couple of seasons.

“It’s exciting to see certain things that have been put in place to not only make the club a sustainable one but get them into the national leagues where they belong.”

Davies has pedigree as head coach of a promotion-winning side, twice taking Henley Hawks from regional to national rugby.

Meanwhile, former Tonga international Fisilau oversaw an increase in players at Under 18 level last term, while the club’s academy reached the last 32 of the national Under 18 club cup.

Nutt has played Championship rugby and remained a key figure at Quins last season, playing into his late thirties.

The new team will begin putting their ideas into practice when pre-season training begins on Tuesday.

Players are asked to sign up online at www.oxfordharlequins.club.