Newcastle Red Bulls: Stephen Jones excited by’ ‘wonderful challenge’

Jones says he has had lots of conversations so far with McFarland, who is currently working for Kobelco Kobe Steelers in Japan.

But the interim head coach is looking forward to how the new coaching team will come up with a blueprint for the new Newcastle.

“When we get together as a coaching group, that’ll be exciting,” he said.

“We’ll be discussing concepts on how we want to play, what’s our DNA, what’s this club’s identity and how we can best bring that together.

“There are lots of pieces of the puzzle that when we connect, we’ve got to make sure we’re clear on our vision and our alignment.”

Before then, Newcastle have four games left of The Prem season, starting with the visit of Harlequins on Sunday (15:00 BST).

Red Bulls have lost all four of Jones’ league games in charge as they sit bottom of the table, nine points adrift of Quins.

The former Wales and British and Irish Lions fly-half says there have been improvements in the six weeks he has been in charge since replacing Alan Dickens, but a second league win of the season would change the narrative.

And Newcastle have a favorable fixture list with only one of their games coming against a top-six club.

“We can look at statistics and we can see improvement, but professional sport is all about winning,” said Jones.

“We’re desperate for that win. We can talk things up that we’re making improvements – which we are from a statistical point of view – but the most important thing is winning and we want a ‘W’ as soon as we can.