'A fresh start': Nick Easter agrees to double job at Worcester
Worcester have appointed ex-England No8 Nick Easter as their new defence and forwards coach for the 2022/23 season. He will be joining from Newcastle where he is defence coach, taking over the defence coach role from Jonny Bell, who is re-joining Ulster, and taking on the forwards coach duties previously held by Jonathan Thomas, who left the Warriors in January.
Before coaching at Newcastle, Easter had two seasons in Super Rugby as defence and forwards Coach with Durban-based Sharks and two seasons as defence coach of Harlequins, the club he represented a record 281 times as a player. Easter won 54 caps between 2007 and 2015 and played in three World Cups
“Nick will be a huge addition to our management team,” said Steve Diamond, the current lead rugby consultant at Worcester who will become director of rugby in the upcoming off-season. “He has vast playing experience at the highest level and he has served an excellent coaching apprenticeship at Harlequins, Sharks and Newcastle.
“I have been very impressed with his mentality of how he wants us to play moving forward. He is very ambitious and his forthright approach will complement our coaching team.”
The 43-year-old Easter has played and coached against sides coached by Diamond for almost 20 years and is now looking forward to working with him for the first time. “I have always appreciated and respected what Steve has done in the game, particularly at Sale and how he has built that club up a couple of times.
“They were struggling, he went back there when they probably didn’t have the resources that they have now. He can get the best out of a group of players and individuals in terms of managing potential. He understands what it takes to win games of rugby, particularly in the Premiership.
“I have enjoyed his company and from our discussions in the last few weeks, we both seem very aligned in how we see the game. The opportunity at Worcester is exciting as well. It’s a fresh start under Steve and it is an excellent opportunity. It’s a club with good investment, ambitious owners and one that needs to be put on the map.”
Easter began his professional playing career with Orrell in what is now the Championship and he played in a match at Edge Hall Road in January 2004 that effectively sealed promotion to the Premiership for the first time for Worcester. “I remember playing against Worcester with Orrell when they got promoted ahead of us in 2004. You knew what they stood for then with that Tony Windo side.
“Since then stars have come and gone and it’s never quite clicked. We have now got a chance to imprint an identity on the club, to build from the bottom up, build something sustainable and something that lasts.
“What I really like is the squad that Steve is putting together and the guys who are staying. There is a great backline there, he is bringing in some talented, hard-nosed experienced forwards which you need so that the backs get the quality of ball they need. If we can amalgamate them quickly, get a clear plan in place, practise it in pre-season and get buy-in from the players then hopefully we should see performances improve.”
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments