OXFORD Harlequins have appointed Stuart Wells as their new director of rugby.

The club’s academy lead coach takes over from Andy Boyle, who has left the South West 1 East side to take up a job opportunity in Surrey.

Boyle, who was also head coach, will be replaced in that role by Pete Davies, formerly of Henley Hawks.

Wells, who was made a life president 12 months ago, has been at the club since 2007, initially joining as a mini and juniors coach.

He has also held a number of other roles, including secretary, and was a key figure in Quins’ move to Horspath Sports Ground last summer.

Wells is looking forward to a bright future.

He said: “We might be an amateur club, but we want to have professional standards and we want the improvement to be driven by the players.

“We want to create a new culture, we have a new facility and an amazing coach in Pete with national experience.

“It feels like Oxford should have a really successful rugby club and one of the things we want is to develop from within.

“It’s exciting to work with Pete and (captain) Ollie Rees, who is phenomenal. We also have Allan Purchase as club captain and he is fantastic.”