Gregor Townsend: Austin Healey delivers verdict on Scotland head coach as Alan Dickens confirms Newcastle exit - ‘No smoke without fire’

Austin Healey believes Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend will take over as Newcastle Red Bulls director of rugby after the 2027 Rugby World Cup, despite the Red Bull consultant insisting he has not signed a contract for after the tournament. Current Newcastle boss Alan Dickens has confirmed to TNT Sports that he will leave the Gallagher PREM club at the end of this season.

'There is no smoke without fire' - Healey says Townsend will join Newcastle

Video credit: TNT Sports

Alan Dickens has confirmed to TNT Sports that he will leave Newcastle Red Bulls at the end of the season amid reports that Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend will become the Gallagher PREM club's next boss.

On the eve of the Six Nations opener, The Telegraph reported Townsend has been appointed as director of rugby at Newcastle and will begin his role after the 2027 Rugby World Cup, though the Scot dismissed the report as "pure speculation" and said he has not signed any contract for after the tournament.

Townsend became a Red Bull consultant in 2025, advising the drinks giant on Newcastle, and TNT Sports pundit Austin Healey believes that link makes it as good as certain that he will take over at Kingston Park - although incumbent Dickens said the links were news to him.

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"That is new to me and I am sure Gregor covered it off in his press conference this week so I know nothing," Dickens told TNT Sports. "The job he has is as a consultant to Red Bull and that is what he does.

"I am not there next season but I do wish the club well with whoever comes in and I sincerely mean that. I want the best for the players, those who are staying and those who are moving on - I want them to find jobs in the country or wherever so they can continue their professional careers.

"I want to be professional. There is a job to finish here, it was an honour to be asked to be the interim head coach at Newcastle Red Bulls and one that I have enjoyed. I have enjoyed the people, I have enjoyed the place and I wish them well in the future."

Healey: No smoke without fire

Dickens confirms he will leave Newcastle at the end of the season but dismisses Townsend speculation

Video credit: TNT Sports

Steve Diamond left his role as director of rugby just one game into the 2025/26 season - Red Bull’s first as Newcastle owners - with Dickens taking over until the end of the campaign.

Former Ulster boss Dan McFarland, who is now forwards coach at Japanese side Kobelco Kobe Steelers, working alongside Wayne Smith and Dave Rennie, had been linked with the role for 2026/27 though that could be in doubt if he knows his time at the helm will be limited to just that season.

"There is no smoke without fire, is there? This guy [Townsend] is a consultant for Red Bull, I do not think he is there as a taste tester, he is there talking about rugby is he not?" Healey said.

"And what rugby assets do Red Bull own? Newcastle, so let us put two and two together and get five, shall we? But yes he has definitely got the job so let us move on and talk about something else."

"I am just confirming it, I do not know why they are messing around. I know he has got a job currently with Scotland but he is saying he is not going until after the World Cup."

Despite their wealthy new owners, Newcastle Red Bulls have struggled this campaign and currently sit bottom of the Gallagher PREM with just one win from 10 games.

They remain alive in the PREM Cup but need to make up ground on Leicester, Saracens and Northampton Saints in Pool B while they have a tough clash against La Rochelle in the last 16 of the EPCR Challenge Cup.

And despite links to big-name stars like Louis Rees-Zammit, they have yet to make too many splash signings with Christian Wade, Simon Benitez Cruz and Liam Williams their most high-profile additions since the takeover.

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"We have to stop thinking about Newcastle as a rugby club anymore, it is not," Healey added. "They play rugby, they are an entertainment business. Red Bull have not bought a local rugby club that is serving the local community, they have bought something to use as an asset to develop marketing tools.

"They are putting on really big events in Newcastle where rugby is in the middle of it and maybe it is the first rugby club that has migrated into that thought process. So all these guys playing now should not think about longevity, they should not think about loyalty.

"They are performers now, they are performers that have to go out and perform because they need bums on seats and that is what Red Bull are demanding.

"It is going to be difficult for us old rugby guys who have been doing this for a long period of time to see that and actually take the rugby element out of the club and out of the environment.

"But why did they get rid of Steve Diamond if Dickens is going at the end of the season? That is something you would say in a rugby sense but Red Bull have got different motives. We do not know what they are currently but I am sure we will find out in due course."

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