Dean Richards, one of the legendary figures of English rugby, is ready to end his self imposed exile from the Gallagher Prem having walked away from Newcastle Falcons three years ago after a decade at the helm of the financially troubled club.
Richards, who had a stellar playing career with Leicester, England and the British and Irish Lions, has been one of the big beasts of the Premiership and is arguably the best man never to coach England.
Having hung up his boots in 1998, Richards coached his beloved Leicester to the Premiership title in his first four seasons and also the Heineken Cup in 2001 and 2002, becoming the first team to retain the trophy. He then spent a year as head coach of FC Grenoble and from 2005 to 2009, he took charge of Harlequins, winning the second division title. However, his time at Quins was ended in controversial circumstances as he was banned from coaching for three years following the Bloodgate scandal.
At the end of the ban Richards was appointed Falcons director of rugby in 2012 and six years later the club was presented with a winding up petition by HMRC but ended that season fourth in the Premiership table, their highest placing in 20 years.
Falcons played Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park in the semi-finals, where they lost 36–5 and since then it has been a story of lowly finishes, lost talent to other clubs and the departures of Dave Walder and Alex Codling as the club tried to find fill the void left by Richards.
So with a remarkable 25 years Premiership experience as a coach and director of rugby, why isn’t the 62-year-old happy to spend his time fishing and concentrating on the rugby players App he set up with his son Will? “ I have realised I have got itchy feet and I want to get back into the game:” he told RugbyPass.” I feel that I would like to be involved again with an international team or mentoring. Once you are away from the team environment it takes a bit of time to get used to and after three years I miss it more than I thought I would.”
His change of heart comes as Newcastle have dropped Falcons and added Red Bull to their name with the club getting the kind of financial injection the 62-year-old could only dream about during his time at Kingston Park. Red Bull are reportedly looking for a high profile director of rugby with Scotland’s Gregor Townsend touted as a possible replacement for Steve Diamond.
Richards said: “I think Red Bull getting involved with Newcastle is fantastic and there are so many people in the club who have put in a huge amount of time and effort to keep it going. Rugby needs to be in the North for all kinds of reasons and if this helps to raise the profile and attract other sponsors then brilliant. Purely because of the geography it is always going to seem like at bit of an outpost and if the truth be known, Geordies like that because they are different. It’s not just the accent, it is their outlook on life and they still value their life and culture.
“If you are going to buy a rugby club then there is nobody who is a threat in the North to Newcastle because they are a stand alone club north of Leicester. Sale Sharks are doing well but they are still struggling to find a home and big crowds and in the season Falcons finished fourth with a side put together on a shoe string budget our average crowd was 8,000 which is fantastic. Whoever is the director of rugby at Newcastle, recruitment will be key to getting the right team together and create the opportunity to be in the top two or three year in, year out.
“There weren’t many players who didn’t want to come to Newcastle and it’s all about the culture where people will be respected. I remember sitting down with a New Zealand player and he asked what Newcastle was like. I said in the summer the temperature doesn’t drop between 22c and you can go tuna fishing all year round and it’s the driest county in the country. He said ‘seriously?’ and I said No it’s bloody cold with the wind howling down the pitch and you have to accept the weather will throw everything at you and just wear another layer. If you are honest with players then Newcastle is not a difficult sell because it’s such a beautiful part of the country.
“ The kind of investment that the club will now get wasn’t there while I was at Newcastle and that’s life. I was probably there a little longer than I should have been and directors of rugby should move on after a certain amount of time because you can become set in your ways and stagnant in the way you look at things. If truth be known, if COVID had not come along I would have gone a few years earlier. Nothing to do with the owner or the club, you just need fresh blood every now and then.”
Intriguingly, Richards is hoping to land a mentoring role and was full of praise for Geoff Parling, the former Leicester and England lock, who has become the new Tigers head coach, replacing Michael Cheika. “Geoff is someone I like and it’s a great appointment and he will need help – somebody to help him in a role he has never done before: “ added Richards, who has been keeping his hand in with a coaching role at Tynedale. RFC. ”He is a great choice and will go down well having worked with Joe Schmidt in the Wallabies set up and in Australian rugby. He will bring a lot of good stuff with him.
“The Premiership has gone through a really torrid time and losing three clubs has been a nightmare for them and they need some kind of boost. That is why I think the Red Bull deal will be great and they will look at it commercially. Through all the other sports they have been involved with, Red Bull have the knowledge to get the best out of the Premiership.
“What I can’t understand is why they have changed the name from the Premiership to the Prem. Will it make a difference? Other than turning off some of the older people I don’t think it will make any difference to younger people. If Red Bull work hand in hand with the Premiership it will be good because they need to learn a few things. Changing the name in that manner – I just don’t get that. The name hasn’t been the issue and I wonder how much it cost to get this done?”