Falcons set to dismiss Steve Bates

May 4 2010 by Nick Purewal, The Journal

NEWCASTLE Falcons were expected to complete the sacking of Steve Bates today.

Despite staunchly refusing to comment on the situation regarding their outgoing director of rugby, the Falcons will round off the formalities this afternoon, the Journal understands.

Falcons boss Bates was informed by a letter sent out on Thursday he had to attend a meeting scheduled for this afternoon, which forms part of a coaching review at the Kingston Park club.

However, he will not officially hear until that meeting that he is to be sacked from the role he has held for two years, since John Fletcher and Peter Walton left Kingston Park at the tail end of the 2007-8 season.

Falcons’ assistant coach Alan Tait will step up to the top role in Bates’ absence – and the former British Lions and Scotland centre took control in training yesterday with Bates not on hand.

Tait, though, will not be handed the director of rugby role straight away, and may yet not take that specific title – though he is expected to assume the reins on a more permanent basis shortly.

For this weekend’s final Guinness Premiership clash, where the Falcons entertain Wasps at Kingston Park on Saturday (3pm kick-off), Tait will take control – but on an interim caretaker basis.

After the Wasps clash there will be more time to thrash out the deal which will take Newcastle forward, with Tait at the helm.

Former Wasps and England scrum-half Bates will end his second coaching spell at the club in unsettlingly similar circumstances to his first – removed before time in the middle of battling to uphold his end of the bargain.

Last time round Bates proved the fall guy for underachievement with Rob Andrew continuing as rugby director, while his return has also proved less fruitful than predicted.

Bates was handed wide licence to overhaul his squad in the summer, as much because of more influential, big-name leavers as a desire to shift the emphasis towards a more power-based gameplan.

Starting the season to the acclaim of a compact but talented squad, Bates predicted his men could qualify for the Heineken Cup if they got lucky on the injury front while managing to hit their stride without delay. Trouble was, delays were all that were on the early path, with the Falcons losing one and drawing three in their first four games.

Struggling to find fluency, Bates’ men craved a longer settling period – but then they came alive with a fine bonus-point win at The Rec to shock Bath.

Backing that up with a league win over Worcester and another memorable away victory at London Irish, the Falcons seemed well-set for progress, but such ambitions went awry. Even a year-turning win at Wasps could not spur the Falcons up the table and into top-six contention, and just one win and one draw from seven Premiership games between mid-February and early April left Bates’ side staring down the relegation barrel in a season which should have yielded more.

Defeats to Saracens, Cardiff in the European Challenge Cup and Leicester exacerbated the demotion jitters – until Newcastle edged a thriller 32-30 at Sale to secure their top-flight status.