Dean Richards on bringing joie de vivre back to English rugby as Doncaster director of rugby
Dean Richards, Doncaster Knights’ new director of rugby, set out his intentions at Castle Park in Doncaster ahead of the opening weekend of the 2026-27 Championship season, outlining a preference for a more enjoyable, imaginative approach to the game. The 63-year-old framed his return to the second tier as part of a wider bid to inject personality into English club rugby.
Richards recalled his long playing and coaching career, noting it is 40 years since he scored two tries on his Test debut against Ireland at Twickenham and that he spent 22 years associated with Leicester. His résumé also includes the Bloodgate episode at Harlequins, a decade at Newcastle Falcons and shorter spells at Grenoble and Wymondham in Norfolk before taking the Doncaster role in South Yorkshire. Richards made a 740-mile round trip to Cornish Pirates on the opening weekend of the 2026-27 Champ season as part of the club’s early programme. He framed his arrival amid a Championship seeking to position itself as a standalone alternative to the Premiership after years of slashed Rugby Football Union funding.
Richards said the RFU has been guilty of underestimating the Championship’s potential value as a breeding ground for aspiring players, coaches and referees, and he believes the standard is improving. He pointed to his Doncaster squad, which includes Semesa Rokoduguni, Telusa Veainu and Logovi’i Mulipola, and to the coaching additions of Alan Dickens and Sir Ian McGeechan, now 79, as evidence of growing depth. He also confirmed Doncaster’s playing budget is believed to have shrunk by around 45% compared with last season, when they finished eighth.
Reflecting on his management style, Richards highlighted a preference for enjoyment and unity over sole reliance on resources, saying of his previous clubs: “With Quins we set our stall out to have fun and I did the same at Newcastle.” He noted players in those successful campaigns were encouraged to show post-match camaraderie and said he is planning a post-match eating contest involving the club’s “cow pie” after Doncaster’s home game against Hartpury on 27 September.
Richards contrasted what he sees as English conservatism with the atmosphere he admires in France’s Top 14, saying: “The French have got some things right. Their clubs’ style of play is absolutely fantastic. In almost every French game, there’s theatre. And I love that. Here we’re inherently conservative. We don’t want to make a fuss.” He added reservations about the modern, corporate approach taken at Newcastle under Red Bull: “The way they’ve done it probably wouldn’t suit me … it’s become very corporate, as I understand it, rather than personal”.
On selection and coaching pathways, Richards urged a more open stance on overseas-based players: “If I was in Steve Borthwick’s shoes I’d be pushing to pick those boys.” He recommended Phil Dowson and Sam Vesty as future managerial options, saying: “They’ve got a good handle on creating an environment where people want to come to work rather than have to come to work. Dows is a real maverick and, for what it’s worth, I think Sam is as well. And I think with that goes the ability to manage people really well. If you’re looking at somebody in the future to be an England coach, I’d certainly look at those two boys. I also like Dave Walder. He is equally as capable but very different to Sam.” On the modern player, he observed: “They’re far more like athletes than we probably ever were. Having said that, I think there’s something missing in their lives. And it’s that balance between work and life. Years ago the life experiences you had prepared you to cope with setbacks. Because many of the guys don’t have life experiences these days, it’s harder for them to accept the adversity and the knocks.”
Richards recounted an early-career episode when, as a police constable, he attended a traffic accident on the M1 hours before playing for Leicester in an East Midlands derby, fetched his kit and still gave the stranded Northampton fans a lift to the game, later commenting: “Things like that, you wouldn’t think twice about.” He also referenced the three-year ban he received after the Bloodgate saga and said he used that time to become a more skilful trout fisherman. On Doncaster’s ambitions he said: “I’d love for Doncaster to get promoted. I think Cornish Pirates had us down the other day [on social media] as finishing 11th [out of 14]. [But] you look at what’s in place stadium-wise here and at Worcester. You’d want those clubs in the Premier league.”
Doncaster begin the 2026-27 Championship campaign with a 740-mile round trip to Cornish Pirates on the opening weekend and are scheduled to host Hartpury at Castle Park on 27 September, fixtures Richards highlighted as early tests for his squad and ambitions.