Lock: Garath Archer
He left Newcastle in 1999 to join Bristol before returning to the North East in 2003. The lock was was forced to retire in 2004 at 29, because of back injury, and has since taken up rowing.
He has had notable success in indoor rowing, winning his age group and coming third overall in 2008, and beating international rowers to win overall in 2009 at the British Indoor Rowing Championships.
Lock: Doddie Weir
After retiring from rugby in 2002, Weir went on to work for Hutchinson Environmental Solutions, a waste management company that was started by his father-in-law.
In June 2017, it was made public that Weir was suffering from Motor Neurone Disease. Weir announced his diagnosis via Twitter in order to promote Global MND Awareness Day.
He has since set up a foundation named ‘My Name’s Doddie’ in order to ‘raise funds for research into a cure for MND and to provide grants to people living with the condition’.
DID YOU KNOW: Weir was famously described by legendary commentator Bill McLaren as being “On the charge like a mad giraffe”
Flanker: Pat Lam
The back-rower moved on to Northampton Saints following the title win, with whom he won the 1999–2000 Heineken Cup. Lam moved back to Newcastle Falcons for the 2001–02 season, playing with the club for a year before retiring.
Lam’s first coaching position was as an assistant coach to Scotland at the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He was then was head coach of Auckland (2004 – 2008) and Super Rugby team the Blues ( 2009 – 2012) before working with Samoa on the team’s 2012 tour.
He then took over Connacht Rugby in Ireland in 2013, guiding the province to their first ever major trophy, the 2015–16 Pro12 after a 20–10 win against Leinster in the final. Lam left Connacht in the summer of 2017 to take up the head coaching role with Bristol, where he guided the club to promotion in his first season.
DID YOU KNOW: Lam played one game for the All Blacks in 1992 (becoming All Black no. 928), a non-test game against Sydney.
Flanker: Richard Arnold
The 43-year-old spent more than a decade as a Falcons player, helping them to the 1997-8 Premiership title and making 104 top-flight appearances after flying over from New Zealand.
He took over as head coach of Northumbria University before returning to the Falcons in 2010 as the Academy manager but left by September 2011.
Number 8: Dean Ryan (Captain)
Another player who departed following the 1998 triumph, joining Bristol, where he’d play for two seasons before hanging up his boots in 2000.
The 51-year-old left Worcester Warriors in June last year where he was director of rugby for the past three seasons. Ryan was previously part of Scotland’s coaching set-up during the 2013 RBS 6 Nations, where he helped the side to their highest finish in the championship for seven years.
The former England international spent four years as Head Coach of Gloucester Rugby from 2005 to 2009 with the club finishing top of the Premiership table for two consecutive seasons in 2007 and 2008.