Northampton appoint Chris Boyd as director of rugby
Monday 29 January 2018 16:40, UK
Northampton Saints have appointed Chris Boyd as the club's new director of rugby on a three-year deal, starting in August.
Boyd will join the club ahead of the start of the 2018-19 campaign - replacing Alan Gaffney, who has been in charge of the Saints since Jim Mallinder was sacked in December.
The 59-year-old has been in charge of Hurricanes since 2014 and led the Wellington-based team to the Super Rugby title in 2016.
"I am humbled and excited to be joining Saints," Boyd told Northampton's website on Monday. "Northampton Saints is a club I have admired all of my coaching career.
"I visited Franklin's Gardens for a week in 2004 when Wayne Smith was head coach, and remember the passion of the Saints supporters and the strong culture at the club.
"Franklin's Gardens is an excellent stadium with first-class facilities, and when John White and Mark Darbon outlined the vision for Saints, it was a project I very much wanted to be part of.
"The club's ambitions match my own - I am confident I can help the Saints become one of the biggest and best teams in Europe.
"I have always aspired to coach in the Aviva Premiership and I am relishing the opportunity to work with this talented squad of players."
Northampton chief executive Mark Darbon added: "We are absolutely delighted Chris has accepted our offer to join the club.
"The club conducted an extensive search and Chris stood out as the exceptional candidate.
"We said at the start of the process that we were looking for a world-class director of rugby, and we've secured one of the very best."
