Sacked Saint Mallinder’s 10-year reign at Northampton is finally over
Director of rugby pays price for poor campaign Former England coach in line as replacement
Mike Ford, the former England and British and Irish Lions coach, has emerged as the front-runner for a short-term deal to help salvage Northampton’s season after Jim Mallinder’s run as the longest-serving director of rugby in the Premiership ended abruptly yesterday.
Mallinder, who had guided Northampton to the title in 2014, paid the price for a sequence of eight defeats in major competitions this season, with the humiliating Champions Cup defeat against the Ospreys at Franklin’s Gardens on Saturday prompting the club’s board to terminate his 10-year association with the club.
Alan Dickens, Northampton’s attack coach, has been appointed as interim head coach but the club are also hoping to bring in an experienced coach for the remainder of the season – at least until a permanent successor can be appointed – and Ford is in pole position.
“We will look to bolster our existing coaching group with some additional leadership and experience on a short-term basis for this season,” said Mark Darbon, Northampton’s new chief executive.
Ford lost his job as England assistant coach following the 2011 World Cup and had a short spell as Newcastle’s defence coach. He guided Bath to the Premiership final in 2015 and was brought into Toulon on a short-term deal last season, only to part company after the Top 14 side’s Champions Cup quarter-final exit to Clermont Auvergne.
The 52-year-old has signed to take charge of American club Dallas Griffins, one of nine teams forming Major League Rugby, a US competition which aims to begin in 2018. Dallas, however, are not due to take part until 2019 leaving Ford free to take up a short-term role with Northampton. Sources yesterday suggested he was interested.
Ford already knows Northampton’s England contingent and his appointment would certainly add extra spice to the East Midlands derby given that his two sons, England fly-half George, and Joe, are both part of the Leicester squad.
Northampton are expected to clarify their position today as they begin a search for a “world-class” successor to Mallinder, who also guided the club to the 2011 Heineken Cup final against Leinster while his tenure also included successes in the European Challenge Cup and the Anglo-welsh Cup.
As well as results – Northampton are 10th in the Premiership and their Champions Cup campaign is over – sources suggest that the board’s decision was influenced by a sense that players had lost faith in the coaching set-up, while sections of the club’s supporters flooded out of the stadium during the defeat by the Ospreys.
Mallinder, who had been handed a five-year deal after the club’s Premiership title in 2014, had twice been linked with the England job in the wake of the 2011 and 2015 World Cups, and his pedigree is such that he is likely to make a swift return to top-flight coaching.
But, undoubtedly, a malaise had set in at Northampton over the past two seasons as their style of play became predictable. Alex King, the former attack coach, left the coaching team in October last year and it is likely that the appointment of a new permanent director of rugby will lead to further changes.
The options are limited however. Stuart Lancaster, the former England head coach who has been hailed for his impact at Irish province Leinster, has signed a contract to 2019, as has Andy Farrell, who is defence coach at Ireland.
Wayne Smith, the former All Blacks coach who was previously in charge at Northampton between 2001 and 2004, is also thought to be a non-runner as he does not want to leave New Zealand.
Richard Cockerill, the former Leicester director of rugby who lost his position in February, is contracted with Edinburgh for the next two years. Any move for a contracted coach would result in a payout on top of the compensation due from Mallinder’s dismissal.