Dean Richards, the former Director of Rugby at the Aviva Premiership side Harlequins Football Club has been assigned the same role with another Aviva Premiership side, the Newcastle Falcons, a position that he will take up from the start of the new season.
But the question remains is whether Richards will have to take charge of the side when it will no longer be in the Premiership because as things stand at the moment, they are the favorites to go down from the top league of English rugby.
The appointment also marks the return of the former England forward from a three year ban after being involved in the infamous ‘Blood Gate Scandal’ when he was the Director of Rugby at Harlequins Football Club and this suspension is due to end in the middle of august, after which, he will take over the reins from Gary Gold, who currently holds the position for the Newcastle Falcons.
In an interview with the official website of the club, Richards stated his delight at being able to join a club of the stature of Newcastle and also added that the position that they are in at the moment makes no difference to him. He added that clubs go through a bad phase at times and it is how they cope during these phases that separate a good club from a great one.
He recently worked on the advisory board for another Aviva Premiership side the Worcester Warriors but that job did not allow him to interfere with the affairs of the team directly. Keeping in mind the position of the Newcastle Falcons, the forward, who has 48 caps for England, is expected to wield the axe on some of the players if the club does go down at the end of the season.
