Newcastle Falcons

Dave Walder is understood to have left his position as head coach of Newcastle Falcons on the day that another homegrown player opted to move on from Kingston Park, with Trevor Davison, the prop who has won two England caps, joining Northampton Saints with immediate effect.

Walder, 44, who played seven seasons for Falcons, has been coaching at the club since 2017 and has been in charge of the first team as head coach since Dean Richards left last summer. But player recruitment and retention, which had been a central aspect of Richards’s role, have been handled separately by a rugby committee comprising Semore Kurdi, the owner, Dave Thompson, the former chairman, and Matt Thompson, Dave’s son, the club’s former hooker, and key players have been lost during the season.

George McGuigan, the hooker, left for Gloucester with immediate effect in December and in January was named in the England squad chosen by Steve Borthwick for the Six Nations, although he was unable to take up his place because of injury. Gary Graham, the former Scotland flanker, is due to leave for Carcassonne at the end of the season and yesterday it was announced that Davison would be joining Northampton with immediate effect, despite having another season left on his contract.

Davison, 30, who was born in Newcastle and joined the Falcons from Blaydon in 2017, won two caps from the bench for England under Eddie Jones in 2021, against United States and Australia. Oisin Heffernan, the Irish-born prop, who has not started a Premiership game for Northampton since joining from Nottingham two years ago, is moving in the opposite direction.

“It’s a shame to see Trevor go, especially mid-contract, and we were very much looking forward to having him as part of our squad next season,” Matt Thompson said. “That being said, we have accepted his request to move on and will not stand in his way.”

Newcastle would not comment on Walder’s position last night, but he is not expected to be in charge for their next game, at home to Gloucester a week on Friday.

With four matches to play, Newcastle lie tenth in the Gallagher Premiership table, level on points with Bath, the bottom-placed side. There is no relegation from the league this season.