Latest news with #SteveDiamond
BBC News
15-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Diamond hails 'remarkable' resilience at Newcastle
Newcastle Falcons consultant director of rugby Steve Diamond is full of praise for his "remarkable" squad despite their position at the bottom of the Falcons have won only two of their 16 league games and are set to finish last for a third straight the club is operating below the salary cap and desperate for new investment as owner Semore Kurdi tries to is against this backdrop that Diamond believes his squad deserves real credit."They are a remarkable group of men," he said. "Sometimes they are not the best rugby players, but to a man, there is not a whinger in it. Not one person."Morale is remarkably good for the unremarkable season we've had." Friday's game against Gloucester marks the final one at Kingston Park for captain Callum Chick and hooker Jamie Blamire, two Newcastle stalwarts, who are heading to Northampton Saints and Leicester Tigers respectively next continues a talent drain of homegrown players from the club, which included Adam Radwan's move to the Tigers in mid-season, which Diamond said were all in the best interests of those individuals, given the current have shipped 130 points in losing their two most recent games away to Bath and Saracens as the gulf between them and the Premiership's best sides has been before that they were on the wrong end of close games with Exeter Chiefs and Northampton Saints. "We should have won at Exeter," said Diamond. "We should have won against Northampton. End of story. "That would have put a completely different slant on our season. It would have been four wins with Gloucester at home to come." The ex-Sale Sharks and Worcester Warriors boss knows his squad is not the most talented in the Premiership, but he said that the shrinkage from 13 to 10 clubs in the league has left them more isolated at the should have been a relegation play-off at the end of this campaign but Championship leaders Ealing Trailfinders do not meet the criteria for promotion, meaning Newcastle's status quo remains. "What's happened because we've gone from 13 teams to 10, we are the only whipping boys in the league," he said. "There used to be three sides who were like that, so you could always pick up five, six, seven wins. Now there is only us who sides would have down to beat on paper, home and away. "When did that last happen to Newcastle, when teams were afraid of coming up here? That is what we need to change moving forward."
BBC News
13-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Great time to invest in rugby - Newcastle's Diamond
Newcastle Falcons consultant director of rugby Steve Diamond said the the climate has improved for investment in club rugby.A new five-year TV deal has been signed to broadcast Premiership matches until the end of the 2030-31 Bristol Bears and Harlequins took league matches to the Principality Stadium and Allianz Stadium on Saturday leading to healthy attendances and potential new audiences."It is obviously a good time for businesses to invest in the league," Diamond said. "There were two games with 100,000 people watching club rugby, they've just done a new TV deal, so I think it's about time big organisations and investors looked at rugby." Newcastle, who prop up the Premiership with two wins from 16 league games, have been looking for new investment since November with owner Semore Kurdi wanting article linked, external the north-east club with interest from energy drink giant Red Bull, the company which has a strong sports portfolio in football and Formula 1 amongst others said he has heard nothing about this, but he is more optimistic about the also cited the report , externalwhich showed that a more youthful audience was being attracted to Premiership rugby as another way of bringing in much-needed new money. "I have nothing to say about Red Bull," Diamond added."But big multi-national companies would look to invest in what they see is a growing sport. "We've got 15 British and Irish Lions coming out of the Premiership. The league is looking good, we just need the right sort of investors."One of the interesting stats for me that came out was an increase in people between 18 to 34 watching rugby. "I'm pretty sure for a company like Red Bull or something similar, that is the demographic they are targeting."
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Sarries crush Falcons to boost play-off chances
Gallagher Premiership Saracens (33) 75 Tries: Gonzalez (3), Dan, Earl (2), Van Zyl, Itoje, George, Bracken, Willis Cons: Burke (7), Johnson (3) Newcastle (14) 28 Tries: Stuart (2), Lockwood, Stevenson Cons: Connon (4) Saracens boosted their hopes of reaching the Premiership play-offs with a thumping 75-28 win over bottom-of-the-table Newcastle at StoneX Stadium. Regularly overpowering the visitors in the first half, the home side established a comfortable cushion, scoring tries through Juan Martin Gonzalez, Theo Dan, Ben Earl, Ivan Van Zyl and Maro Itoje. Newcastle struck back with scores from Sam Stuart and Freddie Lockwood, but further efforts from Gonzalez, Jamie George, Charlie Bracken and Tom Willis put the game beyond Steve Diamond's side. The result leaves Mark McCall's men fifth in the table with two games to go, while the Falcons remain rooted to the bottom. The home side had the better of the early exchanges and it did not take them long to get on the scoreboard. Van Zyl drove up to within inches of the line from a quick-tap penalty, before Gonzalez forced his way over for the first score of the afternoon. Minutes later, Saracens were in again. Theo Dan emerging from the bottom of the pile following a five-metre line-out drive that was helped over the whitewash by the arrival of various Saracens backs. Stung by those early concessions, Newcastle quickly halved the deficit. Alex Hearle stole through a gaping hole in the home side's defence before feeding Stuart, who fought off the attempted tackle of Tobias Elliott to slide over the line. But whatever hopes the visitors' had were soon dashed, as newly announced Lion Earl ran through two Falcons defenders off the back of a scrum for Saracens' third. Having been so close to scoring earlier on, Van Zyl then got the try he deserved. Following a flowing set-piece move initiated from the Saracens half, neat interplay between Nick Tompkins, Alex Goode and Elliott put the scrum-half through to dot down in the shadow of the posts. Itoje, having been named Lions captain on Thursday, then capped a fine week with a score of his own. Following another catch and drive deep in the Falcons half, the second row drove over as the visitors' defence fragmented under the pressure. With the clock in the red at the end of the first period, the Falcons restored some semblance of pride, as Lockwood drove over from short range following a series of Saracens infringements. Things did not get any easier for the Falcons early in the second half with Gonzalez adding to his earlier effort, scything through the Falcons line and past the despairing Stuart. The Argentine then gained a third, the ball spilling invitingly out the back of a Falcons ruck allowing the back rower to stride through untouched. Not to be outdone, Stuart then bagged a second for the Falcons, darting off the back of a five-metre scrum as Saracens defenders proved slow to react to the threat. Even with such a commanding lead, Saracens' intensity never let up and resulted in a further four tries. George fought his way over following another short-range driving maul before Ben Stevenson secured a try bonus point for the Falcons after Brett Connon's break in the midfield. Bracken then claimed Saracens' ninth score of the afternoon from close range before Earl and Willis forced their way over late on as Newcastle wilted in the sunshine. The win moves Sarries up to fifth, level on 49 points with Sale Sharks who sit in fourth. Saracens: Goode, Elliott, Daly, Tompkins, Segun; Burke, Van Zyl; Mawi, Dan, Clarey, Itoje, Isiekwe, McFarland, Gonzalez, Earl. Replacements: George, Crean, Beaton, Willis, Onyeama-Christie, Bracken, Johnson, Hall. Newcastle: Obatoyinbo, Hearle, Clark, Arnold, Stevenson; Connon, Stuart; Brocklebank, Blamire, McCallum, De Chaves, Hawkins, Lockwood, Neild, Chick. Replacements: Fletcher, Rewcastle, De Bruin, Usher, Gordon, Davis, Pepper, Spencer. Referee: Jack Makepeace.
BBC News
10-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Sarries crush Falcons to boost play-off chances
Gallagher PremiershipSaracens (33) 75Tries: Gonzalez (3), Dan, Earl (2), Van Zyl, Itoje, George, Bracken, Willis Cons: Burke (7), Johnson (3)Newcastle (14) 28Tries: Stuart (2), Chick, Stevenson Cons: Connon (4) Saracens boosted their hopes of reaching the Premiership play-offs with a thumping 75-28 win over bottom of the table Newcastle at the StoneX overpowering the visitors in the first half, the home side established a comfortable cushion, scoring tries through Juan Martin Gonzalez, Theo Dan, Ben Earl, Ivan Van Zyl and Maro struck back with scores from Sam Stuart and Callum Chick, but further efforts from Gonzalez, Jamie George, Charlie Bracken and Tom Willis put the game beyond Steve Diamond's result leaves Mark McCall's men fifth in the table with two games to go, while the Falcons remain rooted to the bottom of the table. More to follow... Saracens: Goode, Elliott, Daly, Tompkins, Segun; Burke, Van Zyl; Mawi, Dan, Clarey, Itoje, Isiekwe, McFarland, Gonzalez, George, Crean, Beaton, Willis, Onyeama-Christie, Bracken, Johnson, Obatoyinbo, Hearle, Clark, Arnold, Stevenson; Connon, Stuart; Brocklebank, Blamire, McCallum, De Chaves, Hawkins, Lockwood, Neild, Fletcher, Rewcastle, De Bruin, Usher, Gordon, Davis, Pepper, Jack Makepeace.
Telegraph
06-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Newcastle player drain continues as captain Callum Chick joins Northampton
Steve Diamond is staying positive despite losing his captain Callum Chick to Northampton Saints, insisting that Newcastle Falcons could become the Wrexham of English rugby union if the club secures new investment. Diamond did warn that staff at Falcons, who are bottom of the Premiership table ahead of a trip to Saracens this weekend, still have 'their lives on hold' while they wait for a cash injection or a loan to help them survive beyond the summer. Chick's move to Saints was confirmed on Tuesday morning, the two-cap England back-rower bound for the East Midlands at the end of the current campaign to continue an exodus out of Newcastle. Adam Radwan joined Leicester Tigers earlier this season and will line up alongside hooker Jamie Blamire, another Falcons product, in 2025-26. Ben Redshaw, the England Under-20 full-back, is going to Gloucester, too. Diamond admitted that Chick's exit was a 'body blow', yet showered praise on the durable 27-year-old and declared Northampton as 'the right club' to move to. 'Callum and I have chatted over the past couple of months and clubs have been really interested in him,' said the Newcastle director of rugby. 'With us still searching for investment, notwithstanding a loan that could help us survive, we thought it was fair and right that he exercised his option. 'Northampton was a very good offer and is a great club, coached by Dows [Phil Dowson] and his crew. It's an opportunity he couldn't overlook. He will be a loss but we wish him well. We've got to knuckle down, get some investment and rebuild.' Stressing that Newcastle's owners 'are not going to let it go the way that London Irish went', Diamond claimed that the Falcons situation is 'hugely different' to those at Wasps and Worcester Warriors, having been boss of the latter when it unravelled in 2022. Newcastle, he said, owe DCMS debts as well as debts to their owner, Semore Kurdi, yet are 'up to date and above board' with 'VAT and everything else'. Those plotting the franchise revolution are known to value a geographical spread of clubs, which stands Falcons in good stead, and Diamond wants his club to emulate a feel-good success story of football. 'People are looking for a story, people are looking for a Wrexham,' he said. 'If it's a franchise, could Newcastle be that story?' A stream of local talent is one reason that Diamond remains confident in his project at Newcastle and has 'absolutely not' lost hope. 'What needs to happen is that we need to build our story,' he said. 'The club has been here for a long time, going from Gosforth to Newcastle. In the professional era, they've got it right and then bumbled along. The sort of investment we are looking at is the sort that will put a stamp on the north of England permanently. 'The only way to do that is through selective recruitment and retention, with a pathway through our academy. Our academy has produced kids but I don't think there's been enough organisation for us to make up 60 or 70 per cent of our squad. 'Next season, I think Sale's squad will be 70 per cent made up of their academy. I think we're at 25 per cent. It's ridiculous. It needs investment from top to bottom. 'Rugby is in a very sticky position at the minute and we have 45 players here who are [in] a holding pattern with their lives,' Diamond added. 'The coaches are the same, the physios are the same. And there aren't that number of jobs to go to at the minute. But we aren't thinking that the end of June is going to come along and we're going to take our lunch-boxes home to go and get a job digging holes in the road. 'It's a worry, but we'll represent the ownership, keep our noses to the ground and put our best foot forward against Saracens and Gloucester.' Agreeing with the sentiments of Tony Rowe, the Exeter Chiefs chairman, Diamond backed a franchising system that could see the top flight expand quickly in order to enlarge the league fixture list and increase revenues. 'I'm grateful to the owners, because I've worked for three or four of them, but whatever they have done hasn't worked,' Diamond said. 'It doesn't stand up at the moment. Why would you invest in something with a one-in-10 chance of relegation?'
