Gatland on Saints wish-list as they start from the top
Nick Cain talks to Keith Barwell about the search for Mallinder’s successor
“Player wages have rocketed. We offered £1m for a player, and weren’t in the top three”
Keith Barwell says that Northampton will scour the elite coaching ranks for the best man to take over at Franklin’s Gardens, including sounding out Wales and Lions coach Warren Gatland, but that Saints supporters can forget about Wayne Smith, the recently retired All Black assistant coach, making a return to the club. Barwell, who was the Saints’ main mover and shaker for more than 20 years and remains a board member, said that double World Cup-winner Smith – who coached the club from 2001 to 2004 – is off the Saints recruitment radar.
Barwell told The Rugby Paper: “We spoke to Wayne Smith, and he will not be coming to England. We will start at the top, with people like Warren Gatland. The days of 3-3 draws are gone, and now it is an attacking game. We are looking for someone who can deal with the way rugby has changed dramatically over the last few years. You do not lose nine games on the trot, with only a win against the Dragons in the Anglo-Welsh, if you have dealt with those changes well.”
He added that the Northampton recruitment drive to replace Mallinder, which will be headed by chairman John White and chief executive Mark Darbon, is underway.
“We are surprised by how many people have come forward already. We’ve had a bad season – and I take as much responsibility for that has anyone – but we don’t feel as if we will lose many players, and the new coach will not be expected to make rash promises as we rebuild over the next three years.”
Barwell said that former Northampton players who now have impressive coaching credentials, such as Exeter head coach Ali Hepher and forwards coach Rob Hunter, would be in the mix for the post. “We have about four or five of our former coaching staff down at Exeter, who’ve done brilliantly well. I haven’t spoken to Ali Hepher or Rob Hunter, but if they applied they certainly would not be denied an interview.”
However, with Rob Baxter being touted as the next England coach, and Exeter the reigning English champions, there is not an overwhelming incentive for either Hepher or Hunter to head back to the East Midlands.
Barwell added that the former Saints connection stretches as far as Scotland coach Gregor Townsend, “who was someone I got on very well with”. However, with the former Northampton playmaker in his first year in charge of a resurgent Scotland side, the timing makes him an unlikely candidate.
The same is true of Richard Cockerill, with the former Tigers boss also moving north of the border and in his first season in charge at Edinburgh.
Those better positioned to pitch for the Northampton director of rugby job include Mike Ford, with the former Bath coach having already signalled his interest in an interim role, Stuart Lancaster, who has made headway as senior coach at Leinster, and a South African contingent of Jake White and Worcester’s Gary Gold (pending any pre-contract he has signed with the USA).
In terms of the attacking credentials that Barwell highlighted, Scarlets head coach Wayne Pivac matches the brief, as does another Kiwi Pro14 head coach, Ulster’s Jonno Gibbes.
Whether Dean Richards is available is unknown, but as Jeremy Guscott points out on Page 7 there is no bigger figure, or one with a better track-record in the English club game outside Saracens’ Mark McCall, than the Falcons director of rugby.
With Darbon announcing this week that Wales fly-half Dan Biggar is still committed to joining the Saints next season on an annual deal worth £650,000, Barwell is confident that the Northampton squad will be strengthened despite the upheaval caused by Mallinder’s exit.
Barwell says that the club have managed to negotiate the financial squeeze created by wage increases. “Player wages have rocketed. Recently we offered £1 million for a player, and we weren’t even in the top three. However, we put up when it comes to signing players. We have signed Dan Biggar – who will be one of those outside the wage cap – and this season we have the new England No.10 Piers Francis along with five or six other new players having raised our budget by £1 million.”
With Mallinder’s son, Harry, also telling Darbon he would be staying with the club, a mass player exodus looks unlikely.
However, the remainder of this season has to be negotiated first, including a crucial two months in which Northampton face two games against Exeter, as well as away trips to Harlequins and Bath, and home games against Gloucester and London Irish.
With the club looking to bring in an interim coach to sit alongside attack coach Alan Dickens – installed as caretaker ahead of forwards coach Dorian West – the Saints changing of the guard is not complete yet, either shortterm or long-term.