Solomons takes Northampton job

Ulster coach Alan Solomons finally declared his hand yesterday and announced he had decided on a move to England after three years in charge of the provincial side.

For several weeks there had been speculation that an offer had arrived from Northampton Saints and yesterday the highly regarded director of rugby in Ulster confirmed he would be the head coach at Northampton next season.

Solomons, who was also once South Africa's assistant coach, will replace New Zealander Wayne Smith. Smith yesterday confirmed he would be leaving Franklin's Gardens at the end of the season for a coaching role under former Wales and current All Blacks coach Graham Henry.

The coach from Cape Town, a former litigation lawyer, was unanimously recommended as the most suitable successor to Smith at a recent Northampton board meeting. The club were able to officially offer him the position once the vacancy arose following Smith's resignation yesterday morning.

Solomons has been in Belfast since 2001 following a three-year tenure as assistant Springbok coach under Nick Mallett. During his time there, the Springboks won the Tri-Nations in 1998 and racked up 17 consecutive Test victories - a world record shared with the All Blacks.

Before that, he was the Western Stormers' head coach, taking them to the Super 12 semi-finals in 1999 and he was also partly responsible for ending England's unbeaten run at Twickenham, when his Barbarians side won there at the end of last season.

Forever considered and precise in his dealings as Ulster coach, Solomons has been an important figure over the last three years and led the province to this season's Celtic Cup triumph.

They have also been the pacesetters in the Celtic League, now at its halfway point, although they failed to come out of their difficult pool in the European Cup.

Solomons will also be bringing Ulster forwards coach Adrian Kennedy with him, thereby creating two vacancies in the offseason for the Ulster Branch and IRFU to fill. His official contract ends in May.

"I look forward to the new challenge, but will also leave Ulster with a heavy heart. I have enjoyed every minute since arriving in Belfast," he said yesterday.

"We carried out a thorough search for Wayne's successor as head coach and Alan has proved himself to be strong in all the areas we were looking for. Although Alan's focus will remain with Ulster until the end of the season, he will be very much involved in moulding the Saints squad for next year." said Northampton Saints operations director John Steele yesterday.

Solomons will have a difficult act to follow. Smith arrived at Franklin's Gardens in December, 2001 and led the club to two English Cup finals, a European Cup quarter-final, a Zurich Premiership semi-final and qualification in consecutive years for the European Cup.

Joining Smith in the All Blacks set-up will be Wales coach Steve Hansen, who confirmed yesterday he had accepted the post of assistant to Henry, the man he succeeded in the Welsh job, and would be taking up the post at the end of the Six Nations.

Hansen, who led Wales - Ireland's opponents next Sunday - to an opening round victory for the first time in seven years on Saturday when they beat Scotland 23-10 in Cardiff, said he would make no further comment on his new role.

Welsh Rugby Union chief executive David Moffett said: "Steve Hansen has told me he remains focused and committed to Wales Six Nations programme.

"The New Zealand post is not something that will be exercising his mind until he returns home. This appointment is not totally unexpected and I am now considering sending an invoice to the NZRFU chief executive Chris Moller on behalf of the WRU for playing this important role in the development of two of their coaches."