Steve Diamond has replaced Alex Codling in charge of the Premiership’s bottom club Newcastle Falcons.
Codling was appointed head coach over the summer to replace Dave Walder but will now step back from day-to-day duties with ex-Sale Sharks and Worcester Warriors boss Diamond taking over as consultant director of rugby.
Newcastle Falcons chairman of rugby Matt Thompson said: “I am delighted to welcome Steve Diamond to the club. He is well known and respected throughout rugby, and we believe he is the right man to help us take the club forward.
“The work he did up at Edinburgh recently has contributed enormously to putting them on a sure footing, and at Worcester he did a remarkable job in exceptionally difficult circumstances.
“He knows the English rugby landscape very well, he is passionate about having a strong northern presence in the Gallagher Premiership and I’m excited about what can be achieved here with him on board.”
Following an 11-year and 350 appearance playing career for Sale, Diamond coached the club in 2001 and returned for a nine-year stint from 2011 to 2020 after spells with England A, Saracens and Russia.
He took over at Worcester Warriors in 2022 following a short period as a consultant for the club, and after their liquidation towards the end of that year he took another consultancy role at Edinburgh where he stayed till the end of last season.
“Newcastle are an iconic Premiership club with a fantastic history,” Diamond said.
“It is a privilege to be asked to assist in building a successful and sustainable Premiership business.”
During his brief hiatus from coaching this season, Diamond has been supporting the RFU in putting together a more sustainable, profitable Championship as part of the upcoming Professional Game Partnership.
But Conor O’Shea, who has worked closely with Diamond as RFU executive director of performance rugby, is happy to see him stepping back into a coaching role while he continues to assist the governing body.
O’Shea, said: “We welcome the appointment of Steve as consultant director of rugby at Newcastle Falcons to ensure his continued involvement in the English game at this very important time.
“We would like to thank Newcastle Falcons for allowing Steve to continue in his advisory role on our work to achieve a sustainable and investible Tier 2 league in English rugby.
“Within the context of the Professional Game Partnership discussions we are wanting to create a whole-game solution and a Tier 2 that has improved standards, is integrated and fully contributes to the high-performance system in English rugby. Steve’s experience in growing clubs sustainably is valuable in helping us achieve that.”
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