Former Wairarapa-Bush rugby coach Peter Russell is making big waves in England.
Russell took over as head coach of the Newcastle Falcons in June and, under his guidance, they have won all five of their matches in the Rugby Championship. A 37-20 beating of Bristol has been followed by other wins over London Scottish (49-32), Doncaster Knights (37-3), Cornish Pirates (25-3) and Leeds Carnegie (53-10).
The Falcons are now the only unbeaten side in the 12-team competition, a huge improvement on their form of earlier this year when they were relegated from the ITM Cup Premiership.
Russell's move to England came in rather controversial circumstances when he was axed as head coach of Hawke's Bay despite them earning promotion to the ITM Cup competition last season and making three NPC semifinals while he was in charge.
Before his Hawke's Bay stint, Russell - who was born and raised in Wairarapa - had four successful years as head coach of Wairarapa-Bush, the last two of which saw them win the very last NPC third division title (2005) and the very first Meads Cup Heartland championship title (2006).
And twice in those four years Russell had national coaching appointments with the national divisional and Heartland sides, who toured Fiji and Argentina respectively while in more recent times he has been assistant coach of the Highlanders Super 15 team.
The Russell coaching doctrine is a simple one. He is adamant that getting the basics right has to be the number one priority and, once that is achieved, teams can start thinking outside the square.
"It's really important to ensure the guys believe in themselves and their abilities and to give them opportunities to express themselves on and off the field with decision-making," he has been quoted as saying.
On his decision to take up the Newcastle Falcons job, Russell said he would have preferred to stay in New Zealand but felt he had put too much time and energy into his coaching career to walk away from the professional game. He is unsure how long he will stay in England but said he would love to return to this country should the chance to coach at Super level present itself again.
Two former Hurricanes players, Jimmy Gopperth and Tane Tu'ipulotu, are part of the Falcons squad along with Jamie Helleur, who played in midfield for the Blues.
Director of rugby at the Falcons is Dean Richards, a notable performer for England in his playing days.