Newcastle Falcons have moved to fill the void left by Dave Walder’s recent departure and appointed Oyonnax forwards coach Alex Codling to the top job.
The Falcons have confirmed that Mark Laycock will stay in charge of the club on an interim basis until Codling arrives at Kingston Park in the summer.
Codling is currently working at Oyonnax, who sit atop the second tier of French club rugby, and has also had coaching roles at Harlequins and Ealing.
Moves from French side Oyonnax
“I am very excited to be able to make a contribution to the next chapter in Newcastle Falcons‘ history,” Codling said when speaking about his arrival.
“There’s lot of exciting talent in the squad and our job as a coaching staff is to help the players in every way we can to continue to develop and give them real clarity on how we want to play.”
Speaking on Codling’s appointment, chairman of rugby Matt Thompson said: “We’re delighted to welcome Alex to the Falcons family.
“We’re going through a significant period of change here at Kingston Park, and we’re very excited about the future of the club and what we can all achieve together.
“We want to play an exciting brand of rugby on the pitch and continue to create a platform for rugby talent in the North of England.
“We continue to have some amazing support from our fans, our sponsors and all of our employees, and we’re incredibly grateful for that. We’re looking forward to what comes next.”
Wales prop moves to Harlequins
Elsewhere in the Premiership, Dillon Lewis is the latest casualty of the financial uncertainty in Welsh rugby after Harlequins signed the front-rower.
Lewis won his 50th cap during the recent Six Nations and will still be available for Warren Gatland’s side after the restriction on selecting players outside Wales was dropped from 60 to 25 appearances.
The 27-year-old Cardiff tighthead prop will replace South Africa international Wilco Louw, who is returning home at the end of the season.
“I’m over the moon to have signed and can’t wait to get going in the summer. I am looking forward to meeting the boys and playing at The Stoop,” Lewis said.
“I’m excited to have the opportunity to work with Adam Jones and the likes of Joe Marler and Will Collier. I have big aspirations to improve as a player.”
Jarrod Evans also heads to Quins
Harlequins have also confirmed that fly-half Jarrod Evans will join them this summer.
26-year-old Evans joins Quins with eight Welsh caps to his name, having made his international debut against Scotland in November 2018.
At club level, Evans has represented Cardiff Rugby 126 times, scoring an impressive 765 points since making his debut in 2015.
Commenting on his signing, Evans said: “I’m really looking forward to coming up here. It’s a massive club with a great style of play. One of the things that really attracted me was playing in this league and I am looking forward to challenging myself.”
“They’ve got some really classy players here – I’m looking forward to get going with them.”
Evans has also worked with several of the Harlequins coaching team previously, including Billy Millard, Danny Wilson and Adam Jones, and concluded: “When we come up here, it will make the transition easier. I can’t wait to get going!”
Harlequins attack coach Nick Evans said: “We are all excited to welcome Jarrod into our environment to add to the talent we have in the fly-half stable. Jarrod is an extremely exciting player with attributes to add to the Quins identity and style.”
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