Steve Diamond on shortlist to replace Mike Blair at Edinburgh

Former Sale Sharks and Worcester Warriors director of rugby Steve Diamond is in contention to replace Mike Blair as Edinburgh head coach.

The 55-year-old is on the club’s shortlist alongside former Wasps boss Lee Blackett, currently with Scarlets.

Diamond is a free agent after Warriors entered administration in September. He joined Worcester in November 2021, initially as a consultant, before succeeding Jonathan Thomas in a top coaching job two months later. He led Warriors to the Premiership Rugby Cup and recruited heavily over summer with the goal of propelling Worcester up the table before their financial demise.

The ex-hooker was a strong presence throughout the Warriors’ last stricken days, and formed a consortium with the goal of rescuing the club. His takeover bid was unsuccessful.

Now, Diamond is eyeing a return to coaching with Edinburgh, after Blair announced his intention to relinquish his position at the end of the season. It is understood Diamond would like to keep Blair as attack coach, though the former Scotland captain has yet to decide where his future lies, while hiring Nick Easter to oversee the defensive system. Diamond brought Easter to Sixways in the months before Worcester went bust.

He has also worked closely with Scottish Rugby’s director of rugby, Jim Mallinder, a former team-mate and coaching colleague at Sale, England Saxons and Northampton Saints, who will be involved the recruitment process.

Diamond is best known for his long stints at Sale, as player, coach, and director of rugby. His latter stint running the club’s rugby programme lasted nearly eight years, yielding a Premiership Cup and, and with increased financial investment, the recruitment of world champion Springboks and the early phases of Sale’s rise to where they are now, vying with Saracens at the Premiership summit.

Blackett, meanwhile, was once the youngest head coach in the English Championship at 30, and brought instant success to Wasps when stepping up from assistant to director of rugby in 2020. Succeeding Dai Young, he led struggling Wasps to the Premiership final, where they lost to Exeter Chiefs.

Since the Coventry side entered administration, Blackett was appointed backs coach at Dwayne Peel’s Scarlets in November. Scarlets recently thrashed Edinburgh 42-14 in West Wales.