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Championship club launch new head coach search as double-jobbing Wasps assistant set to leave

(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Part-time Wasps scrum coach Neil Fowkes will quit his role as Nottingham head coach at the end of the current Championship campaign, ending a 30-year plus association with the club for the 40-year-old ex-loosehead who took over the reins in 2018 when Ian Costello was recruited as a Wasps assistant. 

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It was February 2020 when Fowkes signed a contract extension taking him through to the end of the 2020/21 Championship season, a campaign that ultimately had a delayed start and Nottingham have so far lost all three matches and are bottom of the table.  

Fowkes started with the Lady Bay club as an U7s minis player, going on to make 210 first-team appearances between 1999 and 2011 before switching to coaching and working alongside Glenn Delaney, Martin Haag and Costello before stepping up to become the head coach. 

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However, Fowkes linked up with Wasps in a part-time capacity for last summer’s post-lockdown resumption of the suspended 2019/20 season and his double jobbing between the Gallagher Premiership and Championship will now end in a few months’ time.

Nottingham chief operating officer Steve Smith told the club website: “Neil Fowkes has been an integral part of the club during my time here and been an exceptional colleague and friend, so it’s incredibly sad to see him leave after all this time. 

“Having said that, Neil has worked incredibly hard to develop as a coach and leader over his time with the club and he feels the time is right to move on to a new challenge.  Everybody at Nottingham would like to wish Neil all the best in his future career and we know he is going to be a huge success.”

Fowkes added: “Leaving the club is a massive decision for me and my family and one that I haven’t taken lightly. However hard the decision has been I feel that the time is right for a new challenge. I know the club is in great hands and will continue to evolve as it moves forward.

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“The opportunity to be the head coach of your boyhood club doesn’t happen to many people and I am immensely proud to have been given the responsibility of leading the club over the last three years and to be a small part of its history. Looking back, I can honestly say that I have enjoyed every one of my 22 years involved in the senior club, from playing through to coaching. As at any club, there have been some ups and downs along the way, going from minutes away from relegation out of the National Leagues in the 2002/2003 season to promotion the year after is just one.”

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JW 11 minutes ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Where? I remember saying "unders"? The LNR was formed by the FFR, if I said that in a way that meant the 'pro' side of the game didn't have an equal representation/say as the 'amateur' side (FFR remit) that was not my intent.


But also, as it is the governing body, it also has more responsibility. As long as WR looks at FFR as the running body for rugby in France, that 'power' will remain. If the LNR refuses to govern their clubs use of players to enable a request by FFR (from WR) to ensure it's players are able to compete in International rugby takes place they will simply remove their participation. If the players complain to the France's body, either of their health and safety concerns (through playing too many 'minutes' etc) or that they are not allowed to be part in matches of national interest, my understanding is action can be taken against the LNR like it could be any other body/business. I see where you're coming from now re EPCR and the shake up they gave it, yes, that wasn't meant to be a separate statement to say that FFR can threaten them with EPCR expulsion by itself, simply that it would be a strong repercussion for those teams to be removed (no one would want them after the above).


You keep bringing up these other things I cannot understand why. Again, do you think if the LNR were not acting responsibly they would be able to get away with whatever they want (the attitude of these posters saying "they pay the players")? You may deem what theyre doing currently as being irresponsible but most do not. Countries like New Zealand have not even complained about it because they've never had it different, never got things like windfall TV contracts from France, so they can't complain because theyre not missing out on anything. Sure, if the French kept doing things like withholding million dollar game payments, or causing millions of dollars of devaluation in rights, they these things I'm outlining would be taking place. That's not the case currently however, no one here really cares what the French do. It's upto them to sort themselves out if they're not happy. Now, that said, if they did make it obvious to World Rugby that they were never going to send the French side away (like they possibly did stating their intent to exclude 20 targeted players) in July, well then they would simply be given XV fixtures against tier 2 sides during that window and the FFR would need to do things like the 50/50 revenue split to get big teams visiting in Nov.

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