Newcastle Falcons’ rugby advisor Steve Diamond has confirmed the club is considering investment in Saudi Arabia as it prepares to make major cuts to its squad.
The Gallagher Premiership bottom club are set to cut up to 20 players in a regulatory effort over the next fortnight to stabilize their finances.
But Saudi investment in Newcastle may be on the horizon. Telegraph Sport revealed in January that Leicester Tigers, Gloucester, Northampton Saints and Newcastle were in talks with the Saudi-dominated Public Investment Fund (PIF) over seven-figure investments into the clubs.
Saudi sporting influence over Newcastle – already considerable with the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund owning Newcastle United – could now expand.
“Our owner, Semore Kurdi, has met with various dignitaries from Saudi Arabia to help Newcastle set up a rugby academy capable of attracting sevens competitions. “They come to a Leicester, Bath or Sale game to get an idea,” Diamond told Telegraph Sport. ” said.
“It’s still early days but we hope this will lead to some kind of partnership moving forward. Fingers crossed. Watch this space.
“If the owners of Newcastle United wanted to invest in Newcastle rugby I’m sure we would all listen. The wages of one of their players could potentially help us win the competition.”
The Saudis are beginning to direct resources towards rugby at grassroots level, with the Ministry of Education adding the sport to the physical education curriculum earlier this month.
Sevens is a particular focus as it is an Olympic discipline, but there have been exploratory discussions about potential investment in the Premiership.
Without that, Newcastle, already operating on the smallest budget in the Premier League, has been kept afloat by rugby-loving Jordanian businessman Kurdi and has been willing to cut further since 2011.
“It’s not like a Worcester or London Ireland situation. There is no fear of it going as others have gone, but equally the investor wants to do it as economically as possible while maintaining competitiveness. What we are working on now is how to make this work as sustainably as possible,” said Diamond, who takes charge of his first Premiership game with the club at Exeter on Saturday.
“Currently with the academy the squad is 50+ and that number will drop to 34 so you won’t have to be first in maths to calculate that 15 to 20 players will be leaving.
“There are two reasons for this. Firstly, I don’t think they are good enough to reach the standard we want, and secondly, the financial situation requires us to spend 50 per cent of what the rest will spend.
“I told the boys we’re going to put the next two games aside and then sit down and be honest and direct with them. It’s not fair because people have families and this is their livelihood. That’s the dirty end of the stick. There’s going to be some people who are going to be upset, there’s going to be some people who are waiting for this but if “If not with Newcastle, we need to give them as many opportunities as possible to get another contract.”
The coaching staff isn’t safe either. They are also on trial.
“If you have an inexperienced team that is at the bottom of the league, your coaching needs to be successful,” he said. “There is a really quality squad here. The jury is out on one or two issues. This period will be an opportunity for them to show their products and convey their messages,” he said.
Even without investment, Diamond believes the build-and-fix model can be competitive. This is the same method he used in his early years at Sale, when the Sharks were constantly confusing financial reality.
“There are a lot of parallels,” he said. “What we need to do is outperform other teams in terms of recruitment and have a sharp academy. We can do that.”
He is taking practical training in the short term and intends to toughen up Newcastle with an emphasis on what the former hooker calls “legal violence”.
A friendly victory at Sale during the Premiership break shows his methods are having an impact.
“You can’t just go rogue – we need some skill and cunning – but you can make up for a lack of quality by effort,” he said.
“We put in a really brave performance at Sale even though it was a friendly game. “The last few years Newcastle have lost the battle and we didn’t lose this time.
“We didn’t scream or shout afterwards but it put us in a good position for Exeter.”
With six games remaining, Newcastle are struggling to salvage their reputation. They could become the first team to finish a season without winning a league game since London Welsh in the 2014/15 season.
“This isn’t going to happen,” Diamond insisted.