Newcastle confirm trio of departures
May
Newcastle Falcons have confirmed that England stars Toby Flood and Mathew Tait will be leaving the club at the end of the current season. England Saxons flanker Ben Woods will also be leaving the club for pastures new. The news news was announced by Chairman Dave Thompson who described how Newcastle would be receiving transfer fees for the players who all had a year left to run on their contracts.
The unexpected exits round off what has been a season full of turmoil at Newcastle after Director of Rugby John Fletcher and Forwards Coach Peter Walton were sacked earlier in the season, Steve Black was removed from his post and the team did not perform as it perhaps should have done on paper.
One report claims that Flood will join Leicester and Tait will join Sale. If Sale is the destination for Tait, 23 caps, he is likely to be seen as a replacement for Ben Foden who leaves Sale for Northampton at the end of the year.
Thompson said: Having four of our first-choice back line away with England for so long this year, and the fact that they would miss half of our league games next season, has been a major consideration in the decision to allow both Toby and Mathew to move. The impact of four of our back line going out en-masse and then returning at various stages of the season has caused us certain difficulties as we look to get this team to where it needs to be. We felt the situation had to be addressed for the long-term good of the club We are currently in advanced negotiations with 2 Super 14 players, and hope to hae some positive news to report on that front in the near future."
