Gold to be unveiled as Bath boss?
Former Springbok forwards coach Gary Gold is set to take up a new post as Director of Rugby at English Premiership side Bath, with an announcement expected to be made on Tuesday.
South African Gold took charge of Newcastle Falcons as interim coach in January to aid the struggling club in their fight for survival in the top-flight of English rugby.
Newcastle have finished the season in last place, one point behind London Wasps, and Gold will now hand over the reins to Dean Richards – the former Harlequins boss who has been serving a ban for his part in the infamous ‘Bloodgate’ scandal which dogged the London club.
Bath boast two Springboks in Francois Louw and Michael Claasens in their ranks, with Gold set to add some more South African flavour to the team when he is unveiled on Tuesday as Sir Ian McGeechan’s successor.
Fellow SA coach Neal Hatley has left his post at London Irish and is expected to be named as one of Gold’s coaches at Bath, along with former England defence coach Mike Ford, who was part of Gold’s coaching team at Newcastle. A report on BBC Sport suggests that current London Irish boss Toby Booth has also been approached to join the coaching team.
Gold, of course, is a former London Irish head coach himself – having also served as the Western Province Currie Cup coach and as part of the Stormers’ coaching staff upon his return to South Africa in 2006.
He then joined up with Peter de Villiers’s Bok management team in 2008, until the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, before taking up the Newcastle job on a short-term basis in January.
