Dean Richards! ! !

Before his 3 years or so ban for his part in the blood gate scandal, alot of people was saying that he should be the man to take over the England coaching job in stead of Martin Johnson. One of the reasons that was being given out at the time is that atleast Richards does have coaching teams experience.

Now i do not know when his ban comes to an end, but when it does do any of you think that he would have any chance of being involved with the England set up at all?

I know him and Johnson do not get on all that well but surley you should not bring your personal problem,s to0 work with you right.?

I would like your opinions please.

How can you decide now? He has to prove himself as a coach all over again.

Its generaly reckoned that a two year break from coaching makes it bvery hard to go back in at the top level due to the pace of change in the professional game.
Think how different the rules and playing styles are now to when he last was allowed near a rugby pitch. Bear in mind that his ban was total from rugby, not just from coaching.
He certainly wont be abel to walk back into a hiugh level club coaching post, and it would be some time after that he'd be considered for any role in teh national set up.
Its not impossible that he could make it eventualy, hes hardly Brian Ashtons age, but the chances are he wont even pursue coaching/management as a careeer now anyway.

He's only 47 I suspect he'll be back. Probably at a second tier team like Bristol or Nottingham or Leeds.

Peter, I think you over-egg your point slightly. Yes, he's not going to walk straight back in at the top level after 3 years out, but it's not as if he's been living on the moon for that time period! A lot changes, but not enough to negate the accrued wisdom of a highly intelligent and adaptable coach and player.

As for any involvement with England, in coaching terms he is still young enough to achieve anything, really: in 5 years time who knows where he'll be? But the OP's suggestion that he could be involved in the Johnson regime is a bit nuts, really. Why would he be?

I expect him to come back into coaching when the ban is lifted but I doubt England would want the adverse publicity of hiring him especially in the short term.

What is he doing now?

From what I remember of Richards coached sides, they always had a hard edge up front, solid set pieces, and confidence given to the backs to make this happen with good attacking play. He also always seemed to produce teams that were more than the sum of the individual parts. All of these elements aren't going to vanish because he has been out for a couple of years. He'd definitely be a bonus to any coaching squad and for the experience he has and what he brings to the table, a lot of clubs will give him a chance within their setup. Sure he was banned for 3 years, so you could argue that he will have served his time without causing a fuss or creating further headlines.

As for being involved in the national setup, I don't expect this to happen. There appeared to be a dislike at the RFU for the amount of control Richards would end up having and that fear of losing control/power will definitely still be there, with the RFU using the ban as added reason not to let him into the set up.

Richards was DoR, not a coach. His strength was in managing the team rather than taking on field sessions. That's not a skill affected in the same way by a couple of years break.

His ability to reshape and turn around Quins so quickly after relegation, marks him out with Mallinder as one of the top team managing talents. I'd be very happy with either of those taking over the England reigns after Johnson. Richards as Director of Performance with Mallinder as Team Manager could be a very promising combination

Dean Richards was a player in the amateur era, so hasnt built up the huge nest egg in his bank and being banned from rugby has basically taken away his ability to support himself outside media work in rugby.
Hopefully he will be back coaching soon, 3 years was excessive for a ban.

AlynDavies wrote:Dean Richards was a player in the amateur era, so hasnt built up the huge nest egg in his bank and being banned from rugby has basically taken away his ability to support himself outside media work in rugby.
Hopefully he will be back coaching soon, 3 years was excessive for a ban.

Alyn - I cannot agree with you here if you are saying that punishment for breaking the rules in rugby should be mitigated against if the person involved has earned as much money from the game as other people.