‘IT WAS A NO-BRAINER’ – NEWCASTLE FALCONS APPOINT SENIOR COACH WITH LONG-STANDING TIES TO STEVE DIAMOND

Newcastle Falcons have announced the coaching appointment of Alan Dickens to their backroom team, with the former England U20 head coach joining from Leicester.

Dickens has been named as senior coach after spending the early part of the 2023/24 season as Tigers’ attack and backs coach before being placed on leave in October.

The 48-year-old played professional rugby in the Premiership for Sale Sharks, Leeds Carnegie, Saracens and Northampton before he moved into the coaching arena.

Falcons arrival

“I am delighted to welcome Alan to Newcastle Falcons,” said director of rugby Steve Diamond after the north-east outfit announced the new coaching appointment.

“His extensive experience in both playing and coaching in the Premiership will be invaluable as we strive to compete at the highest level.

“Alan embodies the mentality we are instilling throughout the club, from the coaching staff to the players, and more importantly, understands the challenge that lies ahead.

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“His commitment to hard work will be crucial in helping us achieve our goal of becoming a highly respected Premiership team.”

Dickens and Diamond have long-standing ties and the former scrum-half is excited about linking up with him in his new role at last season’s Premiership strugglers.

“I’ve known Steve since around 2001 when I first became a professional rugby player, and since then we’ve had a handful of opportunities to work together,” he said.

“He’s somebody that I hold in high regard, and when he approached me for the position it was a no-brainer. It’s certainly an exciting time for the club.

“I’ll be taking on the role of a senior coach at the Falcons, overseeing both attack and defence.

“I know there’s a strong group of coaches at the club who are very loyal, such as Micky Ward, Mark Laycock and James Ponton, who are local people to the club, and then there’s Tom Williams, an enthusiastic young coach. So it’ll be great to get settled in and work with them for the new season.”

Dickens will be looking to improve on last season’s winless Premiership campaign and despite that run of results he is confident the Falcons can turn things around.

“I think when you look at the results in their entirety, yes, they were disappointing, but a lot of those, certainly at home, were close, hard-fought games; they just came out on the wrong side of the results,” he said.

“From what I saw of the Falcons last year they were very competitive, certainly at home, and weren’t far off getting the results they worked so hard for.”

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2024-07-26T18:14:24Z dg43tfdfdgfd