Tait served as Steve Bates' assistant but will take charge of the side © Getty Images

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Players/Officials: Steve Bates | Alan Tait

Tournaments/Tours: Guinness Premiership

Teams: England | Newcastle Falcons

Newly-appointed Newcastle head coach Alan Tait has expressed his delight at assuming the reins at Kingston Park.

The dual-code international assumed the top job at the Premiership club following a coaching review that resulted in the exit of director of rugby Steve Bates yesterday. Tait, who has who has been assistant coach at Newcastle for the past two seasons, will now take charge of all on-field matters.

"I'm ready for this challenge, and I'm determined to take this club forward now with a different approach," said the 45-year-old. "It's a bit of a change in set-up from what we had before, but just to put this to bed once and for all, I am the man in charge of the rugby side of the club.

"I will decide which players come, which players leave and which players get selected for the team every week. I will decide what our coaching set-up and backroom support team is, but rather than getting bogged down in the office side of things I will be supported by our chief executive David Bell with regards to admin/contracts and negotiations, so that I can concentrate purely on rugby. Like myself David is extremely passionate about this club, and I've got every confidence that working together in this new set-up, which is similar to other clubs, is the way forward for us here. It lets me get on with the rugby.

"I just wanted to make the new set-up totally clear, in case there was any misunderstanding at all with regards to who is running the show. There will be no director of rugby coming in, and I as head coach will be in charge of the rugby department. I am in the process of reviewing the coaching and support structures at the moment to help take the club forward. If we bring people in from outside or change the existing set-up that will be my call, and I hope to have some announcements in that regard in the not-too-distant future."

Speaking in his first full day as head coach the Scot, who won the Premiership as a Newcastle player back in 1998, added, "It's a dream job really, but it's not something I was expecting. It's been a busy week with a game at home to London Wasps on Saturday, but the players have just been professional as you would expect. They've got on with their work in training, the atmosphere has been good as usual and now with the announcement out of the way we can just concentrate on finishing the season on a high.

"There was a bit of a buzz about the players after their win down at Sale Sharks in our last match two weeks ago, and whilst that was all well and good, now that the dust has settled I think the point needs to be made that finishing third bottom of the league is nothing to celebrate. My own ambitions and, I am sure, those of the players and fans, extend well beyond that. We now have a chance on Saturday to end on a positive note against London Wasps, but the planning is already well underway for next season.

"A number of new players have either agreed terms or are very close to doing so, and we hope to start getting these names announced from next week onwards. I think it's only fair that our supporters know the quality of players we are recruiting in the meantime, and I can reveal that they include a number of full internationals, some of the Championship's top performers and the best talent from the local North-East clubs.

"This is in addition to the fact that most of our top players are already under contract for next season, and with that campaign in mind we have already taken the decision to bring the players back early for pre-season training which will now start in mid June. This will give the new group ample time to knit together, and there can really be no excuses."