Gaffney ‘excited’ to take on challenge at Northampton

Northampton Saints have turned to former Saracens director of rugby Alan Gaffney to rescue their season, with Gaffney replacing the sacked Jim Mallinder.

The 70-year-old was announced yesterday as the club’s technical coaching consultant until the end of the 2017/18 campaign, and arrives with Northampton 10th in the Premiership, having won only four of their league matches this season.

Gaffney will begin work on New Year’s Day ahead of the Premiership match with Gloucester the following Saturday. Alan Dickens will take charge for Northampton’s trip to Twickenham to face Harlequins.

Australian Gaffney has spent the past five years as Rugby Australia’s national elite programmes coach, having previously been head coach at Munster and served as assistant coach with Leinster, the Waratahs in Super Rugby, as well as the Ireland national team.

“I am really excited about the challenge ahead,” said Gaffney. “Any coach would jump at the chance to work with the calibre of players Saints have. The squad have shown what they’re capable of earlier in the season but, for whatever reason, they have not been able to perform at that level consistently.”

Northampton CEO Mark Darbon added: “Alan is hugely experienced and admired throughout the game. His CV speaks for itself; he has been successful with some of the best teams in the world – including winning a Six Nations Grand Slam and Heineken Cup – and has a clear understanding of how to set-up an effective all-around rugby team.”