There was a symmetry about the three players who scored the 30 points for Harlequins that were enough to take the club to a first Premiership title: Nick Evans and Tom Williams, who supplied 25 between them, were the central figures in the Bloodgate scandal three years ago while Chris Robshaw has been one of the key figures in the transformation of a side that now sweats blood rather than fakes it.

Williams was not made available to the media after the victory against Leicester, but Evans reflected on how Harlequins had been able to emerge stronger from the bloody subterfuge on a spring Sunday in 2009 and build on the foundations laid by its perpetrator, Dean Richards, who in August will complete a three-year ban for the fraud.

Robshaw paid tribute to Richards's successor as director of rugby, Conor O'Shea, who has established a culture at Quins very like that Warren Gatland brought to Wasps a decade ago at the start of a trophy‑drenched era for the Wycombe club: hard work and togetherness allied to pastoral care. Just as Gatland used to look for ways to keep his players mentally fresh as campaigns neared their end, so O'Shea took his squad to Abu Dhabi for four days after the play‑off semi-final victory over Northampton.

"Conor is the most positive guy you will meet," Robshaw said, whose season started with the disappointment of not being chosen in England's World Cup squad but ended with the flanker holding the Premiership trophy and the captain of his country. "That is reflected in the way we play with pace and passion."

Robshaw not only scored Quins' second try, but prevented Leicester from taking the final to extra-time by winning a turnover near his own line after the countdown clock had reached zero. Evans kicked 20 points and may have been lining up on the other side but for Richards who persuaded him in 2008 that he would be better off at the Stoop than Welford Road, where he had been offered a contract.

"Conor's man-management is brilliant," Evans said. "Dean laid the foundation with the young guys and Conor has increased the professionalism. A lot of ownership has been given to the players and winning the Amlin Challenge Cup final last year was a springboard for us. We are no longer Quins the underdogs and that will mean a different phase for us next season. We went through a tough time three years ago. The club effectively imploded but no one jumped ship. The core of the group remained the same and Conor galvanised us. Bloodgate is a tattoo that will always be there, but as far as we are concerned it has gone."

O'Shea, again like Gatland at Wasps, did not undo what he had inherited but added to it. Even on probably the greatest day in the club's 146-year history, just seven years after they were relegated from the Premiership, he preferred to pay tribute to others, starting with Richards, who if Newcastle are spared relegation will be returning to the Stoop next season as the Falcons' director of rugby.

"This is a massive tribute to Dean who put so many of the structures in place," O'Shea said. "We said a couple of years ago that we wanted to write a new chapter in the club's history and this has to be the starting point. Chris Robshaw epitomises what Harlequins are about: he does not get ahead of himself and he is ultra-competitive. He will not allow the players to rest on their laurels."

Just as Wasps in the previous decade had a core group of players who had been together for years, so O'Shea pointed to the likes of Ugo Monye, Williams and Mike Brown, who had come through the ranks at Quins. "We were in a dark place three years ago, but no longer," said the England wing Monye. "The biggest change has been the culture Conor has influenced. He's a top guy.

"He knows how to get the best out of young talent and deserves massive credit. He has developed and matured us. Before the final, he said the reason he came to Quins was for days like this and to beat a side as fantastic and consistently successful as Leicester shows how far we have come. When the final whistle went, Conor was one of the first people I looked for. I wanted to go over and give him a hug because I know how much it means to him and how much he has sacrificed."