Nottingham Rugby’s Head Coach Martin Haag is to leave the club at the end of the season to take up the England Under-20s head coach job.
Haag, who has been with the Green and Whites for four years, guided the side to a second place finish in his first year.
The club narrowly missed out on the play-offs two seasons later and are currently 5th in the Greene King IPA Championship, pushing for a top four spot.
Haag said in a statement: “I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Nottingham and will miss those that make this club so special. There is great history here, a fantastic attitude to rugby and a real passion to succeed.
“I have learnt a lot in my time with the club and I am a better coach for it. I feel lucky to have been involved during such an important and rewarding period for the Green and Whites.”
We wish him well in his next post
Nottingham Rugby chairman Alistair Bow said: “On behalf of the board and everyone at the club, I would like to thank Martin for everything he has achieved.
“It has been a challenging period for the club and without his leadership I am sure we would not be in as good a place as we are now.
“We are obviously disappointed to see him leave, but I am delighted that he has been rewarded for his efforts as our head coach. I am sure he’ll do a fantastic job for England Rugby and the RFU and we’d like to wish him well in his next post.”
Picture: RFU bosses hope Haag can inspire a new generation of England talent
Nottingham are yet to announce a replacement and are expected to follow a similar process of recruitment as they did when appointing Haag four years ago, involving a small research panel.
Head of International Player Development at England Rugby, Joe Lydon said: “Martin is held in high esteem in the rugby world. We were impressed with his vision for both player and coach development and his philosophies and values align with those that are in place for the programme.
“He has the ability to maximise the potential of young talent and his previous experience will allow him to work well with the other international coaches and the clubs in developing players coming through the pathway.”
Nottingham’s next match is against Jersey this Friday, March 4 at the Bay
