“The Scottish Rugby Union decided on a reduction in the number of professional teams which, after some deliberation, sadly meant the end for the Borders.

“From my own personal point of view that meant there was no real future for me within the SRU structure, so when the Falcons contacted me about joining their coaching team it was an exciting proposition.

“I had always stayed in touch with people like Steve Black and John Fletcher even during my time away, so when they put the idea to me about coming back it took about half a second to make my mind up.

“I saw the Reivers very much as a long term project, of which were about two or three years in to what would be a six-year schedule to make ourselves competitive in the Magners League. I enjoyed my time there with a great bunch of players and support staff, I wasn’t looking to get out of that environment but now that the team is being disbanded it allows me to start another exciting chapter back at Newcastle.

“I have a family where the girls are settled at school in Hexham, so staying in the north-east with a great club like Newcastle is the perfect solution from a personal point of view. The family doesn’t deserve to be uprooted, and had the opportunity at the Falcons not arisen I would have seriously looked at changing careers to continue living and working in the north-east, which is where I call home.”

Meeting the press at a Kingston Park stadium quite different from when he last coached the club, Bates said: “When I left the West Stand was a shell, and the South and North Stands weren’t there. The East Stand was basically the old clubhouse bar but now it houses state-of-the-art video analysis and computer rooms, which is a statement of how far the club has come in a fairly short period of time.

“In the last month I’ve been to three home games at Kingston Park, all sold out or with near capacity crowds. That sort of environment excites me hugely, and the way the squad is developing under John Fletcher and Peter Walton made it a pretty easy decision to come back.

“Guys who were just joining the academy when I was last here, like Toby Flood, have thrived here, and young players like Jamie Noon, Phil Dowson and Ben Woods are becoming senior pros. The club is all set to go forwards, and our sights are set very high right now.”

Explaining how he fits in to the new coaching structure, the former Wasps scrum half said: “I’ve had the opportunity to go and work in Scotland, which I have really enjoyed.

“Over the next three to four weeks we will sit down as a coaching team and review what has happened so far this season. From there we will discuss exactly how I can contribute to that, redefine certain roles within the coaching group and just work well as a unit.

“The way the club operates is similar to when I was last here in that all the coaches support each other to make sure we get the best out of the players. We firmly believe with the players and coaches we now have in place that we will produce a really competitive side.

“We will very much work as a coaching team, and we believe we will profit from that because we all bring different qualities to the table. I feel I have gained a lot of experience in the Magners League, which is a slightly different style of play to the Premiership, and having watched the Falcons’ last few games there are already things I’m noticing and talking to the other coaches about implementing.

“We all want to see the game being played with pace and creativity in the Falcons way, but coming in from outside maybe there are things I can say that we’ve missed or we need to focus on more. I am anticipating a real team effort on the field, but also behind the scenes with the support staff that the club has in place.

“Also from a pure bodies point of view having that extra man on the coaching team enables us to do more individual and specific skills work with the players which isn’t always possible when you have two coaches looking after 40 players at a session. Working so closely with small groups of players will enhance their ability to fully understand what we are asking of them, and how their particular role fits in to the team structure.

“I anticipate that this coaching team will be a very harmonious one working closely together to produce the best team on the field. My experience will allow me to perform certain roles, but that will evolve over time as we get used to working together for the good of the club.”