Red Bulls soon to receive 'invaluable' reinforcements to kickstart season

Newcastle Red Bulls will get coaching and playing reinforcements early next week when former Wales and Lions fly-half Stephen Jones and ex-England winger Christian Wade arrive in the North East.

Jones, 47, who has recently been working with Moana Pasifika in Super Rugby, will become the backs and attack coach at Kingston Park as the club looks to halt a run of five defeats in five Gallagher PREM games.

Red Bulls head coach Alan Dickens says he has spoken to Jones, who retired to join the Wasps coaching staff in 2012, and that his experience will be invaluable.

“Stephen starts work on Monday, but I think he is planning to be at the game on Friday night. I believe he flew back over the weekend. I spoke to him last Tuesday or Wednesday, and he has also spoken to Lee Dickson.

“We are all looking forward to Stephen coming in. We have talked about being short of numbers of coaches on the ground, and his experience as a player and as a coach is going to be invaluable,” he said.

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Former Wasps, Racing 92, and Gloucester ace Wade links up with the Red Bulls after being given five weeks’ rest after a stint in Super League with Wigan Warriors, despite not playing since July.

It will rekindle a relationship with Dickens that goes back almost a decade, when he was part of the England Saxons coaching staff, and like the arrival of Tom Christie, will give Newcastle a shot in the arm.

“We have been in touch with Christian, and he is very professional. After this weekend, we go to two weekends of Europe, and then we are playing Bath just before Christmas.

“It will be a question of bedding him in, certainly, across those two weeks of European competition before we get that Bath. Christian is a great player. I first came across him in 2016 when we went on an England Saxons tour.

“He had a fantastic tour in South Africa, so we are looking forward to him coming in and doing what he does best, which is scoring tries. Like Tom Christie coming at this stage of the season, it’s a real boost,” added Dickens.

Meanwhile, Dickens admits that he was disappointed that Stuart Moore, who scored a hat-trick on his debut against Northampton Saints in the PREM Rugby Cup, has been recalled by his parent club Ulster.

“It’s one of those. I was disappointed, but it’s part and parcel of where we are at. We have had injuries in the centres. He came in for two weeks, and talking to him, he loved his time here.

“I think that most people would if you scored a hat-trick on your debut, and he is a fantastic player who fitted in really well. But needs must, his parent club called him back, and he flew back on Sunday afternoon.

“It wasn’t ideal preparation, but one that he had to move on quickly. If he will be able to come back, I really don’t know and can’t answer that one,” he told RugbyPass.