In his first full season in charge, he restored Harlequins to the Heineken Cup for the 2011–12 season following a 7th-place finish in the 2010–11 Aviva Premiership. He guided Quins to the semi-finals of the 2010–11 LV Cup and to the final of the 2010–11 European Challenge Cup, defeating Stade Français 19–18. In 2012, Quins topped the 2011–12 Aviva Premiership table at the end of the regular season with 75 points (17 wins, 1 draw, 4 losses). They defeated Northampton Saints 25–23 in the semi-finals to progress to the final against Leicester Tigers. On 26 May 2012, Harlequins won their first ever Premiership title defeating the Tigers 30–23. However, they were unable to defend their title after being knocked out by the Tigers 33–16 at the semi-finals of the 2012–13 Aviva Premiership. They did however clinch the 2012–13 LV Cup title and made it to the quarter-finals of the 2012–13 Heineken Cup.