Saints’ coaching role is creating a worldwide buzz

NORTHAMPTON chairman Tony Hewitt says Saints have received applications from across the globe to fill the position of attack coach since Alex King’s departure.

Assistant coach Alan Dickens has been adding attack coaching to his defensive duties, but Saints are looking to replace King on a permanent basis.

“We felt we needed a change because while we had the second best defensive record in the league, we had the second worst attack record,” said Hewitt.

“The simple thing was the we weren’t scoring enough points. Alex had been a great servant and worked well with us, helping us to win the Premiership and Challenge Cup, but sometimes you have to make a change to bring a new voice in.

“We felt while we were really grateful for the work Alex had done, we needed to bring someone new in to rejig our coaching team.

“In the shortterm we’ve got academy coaches Paul Diggin and Mark Hopley helping with the first-team and we’ve got a fantastic number of coaches from around the world who have applied and want to come to Northampton Saints. “We let the agents know we’re in the market for an attack coach and everyone picks it up anyway in the news. “We get applications from around the world coming in and people want to work for successful sides like Northampton Saints. We’ll be making a statement in due course.” Meanwhile Saints centre Harry Mallinder, below, has been ruled out until the new year following ankle surgery. The 20-year-old was injured in their Premiership win against Gloucester at Franklin’s Gardens and missed the Anglo-Welsh Cup trip to Newcastle. Mallinder, who has played eight 2016-17 games, required surgery to stabilise the joint and may be out for eight weeks. “Operation was a success. Thanks for all the kind messages,” he said on his Instagram page.