Match reaction: Newcastle Falcons 22-19 Sale Sharks

Friday 30 March 2012, 8.00pm
Kingston Park, Newcastle
Aviva Premiership #19

 

 

ESPN no doubt put on last night’s Leicester v Worcester match at Welford Road because they knew it would attract more TV viewers than our game against Sale.

 

It probably did. However, while Leicester were whupping a 14-man Warriors side, an absolutely epic last half hour at Kingston Park brought us back from the brink and kept the Falcons alive in the relegation battle.

 

For most of the first 50 minutes last night we were bloody awful. It was like Bates and Tait had been snuck back in when we weren’t looking. All of the passionate attacking play from the previous few games had been replaced with aimless, hopeless kicking, with no interest in chasing.

 

Sale on the other hand counter-attacked with pace and scored three tries in the first half. Even at just seven points down at half-time it was hard to see how we would get anything from the game, and that would almost certainly condemn the Falcons to 12^th place in the Premiership.

 

Gary Gold’s team talk would have been easy: “I’m going at the end of the season so it doesn’t matter to me. It’s most of you lot that will have to play in the Championship.”

 

Whatever happened at half-time seemed to stir some fight in the team and the match was won by sheer force of will, a bunch of players willing to put themselves on the line, backed by a crowd showing no regard for either their heart rates or the need to speak today.

 

On 52 minutes, Jimmy Gopperth sent a penalty to touch and on ran James Hudson and Adam Balding. Hudson took the catch and as the Falcons drove for the line, the South Stand roared themselves hoarse and at the bottom of a pile of bodies, the referee pointed up and down to send every home fan mad.

 

It was now level at 19-19, and the Falcons plugged away, controlling possession and territory but seeming to be unable to create another chance. Two penalties were given away in the Sale 22.

 

With 10 minutes to go Gopperth had a chance to give us the lead. Hearts were in mouths as the penalty drifted across the goal.

 

I kept thinking “Not another bloody draw!” as I and all other Falcons fans at KP continued to shout and sing as loud as our voices could still let us.

 

Four minutes left, a penalty straight in front of the posts. I couldn’t help but be reminded of Tom May’s vital kick against Gloucester in January 2009, the most celebrated penalty in our history.

 

This kick equalled it, The Wizard sent the ball high and true into the dark Geordie sky and the touch judges flags rose in approval.

 

Just a few minutes now. Could we hold on? Two words foremost in my mind – “NOTHING STUPID!!!”

 

The pick and drive was controlled perfectly, and once we had counted down to zero Peter Stringer whacked the ball into the West Stand and four absolutely priceless points were safe.

 

So now attention turns to High Wycombe tomorrow when Wasps, in theory, have to win to have any chance of avoiding a last-day showdown at Adams Park.

 

As for us, if we can take this spirit into the Gloucester and particularly Saracens games, and marry it with the quality we saw against Irish, then there is still hope.

 

I took wor lass to KP for the first time last night, and though she’s not really a rugby fan she couldn’t help get caught up in the atmosphere and the tension. As I said to her later, winning 50-0 every game is probably nice, but would I rather that than the excitement and nerves we go through? Not for a second.

 

Our win last night meant so much more in the grand scheme of things than Leicester’s over Worcester. How difficult it was to achieve and the effort the players and supporters put into it makes it so, so satisfying.

 

I wonder whether ESPN are thinking they picked the wrong game to televise?

 

 

(Follow The South Stand Choir on Twitter: @SouthStandChoir)

Match preview: Newcastle Falcons v Sale Sharks

Friday 30^th March 2012 – 8.00pm

Kingston Park, Newcastle

Aviva Premiership #19

This could be a key weekend in the relegation battle, with both ourselves and Wasps having, on paper, the easiest games of our run-ins until the potentially fateful day in High Wycombe in May.

 

While Wasps host Gloucester on Sunday, the Falcons again have the chance to put pressure on the Pests by playing first, against Sale tomorrow night.

 

After years of this game being an almost-guaranteed win for the Falcons, we haven’t beaten the Sharks at home in the Premiership since September 2007, when World Cup-bound Toby Flood engineered an opening day bonus point win for us.

 

How long ago that seems.

 

A repeat of that, or indeed our 37-7 thrashing of the Sale in the LV= Cup in Gary Gold’s first game in charge in January, would be most welcome. A repeat of Boxing Day, when we lost in Stockport, would not be.

 

Our home record v Sale in the professional era:

10/03/1998 Premiership 1  W23-18

20/12/1998 Premiership 1  W30-15

29/12/1999 Premiership 1  W12-6

06/01/2001 Cup SF       W37-25

11/03/2001 Premiership     W48-24

31/03/2002 Premiership     W30-10

27/10/2002 Premiership     W31-20

21/09/2003 Premiership     W9-8

02/01/2005 Premiership     W30-29

02/10/2005 Cup      W34-9

16/04/2006 Premiership     W32-21

26/12/2006 Premiership     W40-25

16/09/2007 Premiership     W33-12

07/09/2008 Premiership     L9-14

13/09/2009 Premiership     D16-16

07/01/2011 Premiership     D19-19

29/01/2012 Cup      W37-7

 

 

Sharks (which they might end up calling themselves next season, having previously experimented with it in 2002/03) have had a decent season, with none of the relegation worries of previous years.

 

Although they have won only away twice in the Premiership, at Wasps in September and Bath in December, Sale sit seventh on 40 points, just two behind Gloucester, and have realistic hopes of a Heineken Cup place for 2012/13.

 

Head coach Tony Hanks paid the price for two heavy defeats this month, in Exeter and most recently a 9-45 home thumping by champions Saracens. The latter match, last Friday night, led to outspoken CEO Steve Diamond to promise changes, and Hanks’ head was the one to hit the block. Diamond now wants to bring in a “big-hitting, experienced Director of Rugby” in the summer.

 

Sale have already begun adding to their squad for next season, with potential seat-filler Danny Cipriani returning to England from his Australian adventure, and more substantially than stylishly Richie Gray will make way for Glasgow-bound Tim Swinson. Eifion ‘the big fella’ Lewis-Roberts is returning to the North West from Toulon, with injury-prone England prop Andrew Sheridan heading in the opposite direction.

 

On the way out is former Leeds back Luther Burrell, who will be joining Northampton.

 

Alex Tait injured himself again at Worcester last week and is replaced by Tom Bedford on the left wing, and the only other change to the Falcons’ starting line-up is Rob Vickers, back from suspension, coming in for Matt Thompson. James Hudson is back on the bench too, one of six forwards among the replacements:

 

Falcons: 15 Jeremy Manning, 14 Corne Uys, 13 Jamie Helleur, 12 James Fitzpatrick, 11 Tom Bedford, 10 Jimmy Gopperth (c), 9 Peter Stringer, 1 Jon Golding, 2 Rob Vickers, 3 Euan Murray, 4 Tim Swinson, 5 James Goode, 6 Taiasina Tu’ifua, 7 Will Welch, 8 Ally Hogg.

 

Replacements: 16 Matt Thompson, 17 Grant Shiells, 18 James Hall, 19 James Hudson, 20 Adam Balding, 21 Mark Wilson, 22 Will Chudley, 23 Greg Goosen.

 

 

Former Falcon Rob Miller is at full-back for Sale tomorrow night, having performed well in this position so far this season, including on Boxing Day. The only other ex-Falcon at Edgeley Park, Charlie Amesbury, is nowhere to be seen, but there is plenty of international experience in the starting XV with Mark Cueto, Dwayne Peel, Andrew Sheridan, Richie Vernon and Andy Powell included, and captain Sam Tuitupou is a former All Black:

 

Sale: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Tom Brady, 13 Johnny Leota, 12 Sam Tuitupou (c), 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Nick Macleod, 9 Dwayne Peel, 1 Andrew Sheridan, 2 Marc Jones, 3 Tony Buckley, 4 Kearnan Myall, 5 James Gaskell, 6 Richie Vernon, 7 David Seymour, 8 Andy Powell.

 

Replacements: 16 Joe Ward, 17 Alasdair Dickinson, 18 Vadim Cobilas, 19 Tom Holmes, 20 Mark Easter, 21 Cillian Willis, 22 Luther Burrell, 23 Will Addison.

 

 

Time is running out, this is a must-win game, so let’s make ourselves heard tomorrow night and roar the Falcons on to a massive victory! Here’s to a sore throat on Saturday!

 

 

(Follow The South Stand Choir on Twitter: @SouthStandChoir)

Match reaction: Worcester Warriors 19-9 Newcastle Falcons

Friday 23 March 2012 – 7.45pm

Sixways, Worcester

Aviva Premiership #18

The Falcons will have left the Sixways pitch devastated last night after a performance full of heart was not enough to get anything out of Worcester.

The 19-9 defeat leaves us stuck on the bottom with four games left and realistically we now need to beat either Gloucester away or Saracens at home (assuming we defeat Sale at KP on Friday) to have any chance of going to Wasps on the last day of the season able to creep off bottom.

That also assumes the Pests get nothing from their games during the run-in.

It was a frustrating evening for players and fans. Neither side displayed a great deal of quality, but both put on an enjoyable show for the partisans full of thunder and, in some cases, blood. Tries are a rarity at either end in matches involving Worcester and their solid defence and toothless attack showed why.

Penalties were, as expected, key but Jimmy Gopperth missed two, the second being one he would normally score blindfolded with 10 minutes left, and Alex Grove’s try was decisive. The Falcons also defended excellently all game and rarely looked in danger of conceding a try but the Warriors were able to cleverly build an overlap on the left, our team running out of defenders.

Still, as I said in the BBC Radio Newcastle commentary, there is much to be optimistic about for the future. Dean Richards is now on his way, which suggests that even if we are relegated we may be able to keep Mike Ford and John Wells, who have had a big impact on our defence and forwards.

The scrum was superb last night, I can only remember our pack being taken apart once whereas they were regularly on top in the set-piece.

On his debut Peter Stringer played with a speed and intelligence that I for one have not seen from a Falcons scrum-half in may years. His influence ebbed away as the game went on, but then Worcester began to take control in the last half an hour so he had less quality ball to work with.

If we are going to pull off a miracle and get off bottom then Stringer and Gopperth combining to set off the backs will be key, and hopefully the Irishman can pass on some tips to Pasqualin, Pilgrim and Chudley while he is here. As indeed he has said he will.

On a personal note I was glad to get an earlier train to Worcester than I normally would, although despite some tiring early shifts I wasn’t able to get any sleep. Scottish Chris and his pal got the later train and it was delayed – might have been stressful.

It took a long time for me to get a bus from Sixways back to the train station post-match, but finally at 2.30am, but under 24 hours since I had left for the office, it was time to get some sleep. Or not, as the case was. So tired now and not looking forward to the clocks changing tonight.

So, we are all Saints fans today. Northampton v Wasps at Franklin’s Gardens kicks off at 5.45pm, no doubt there will be commentary on the BBC Sport website somewhere for those wishing to lend the Midlanders some moral support. A Wasps win today would 95% guarantee us finishing bottom.

As for us, we just need to keep plugging away, see what happens and if the worst does happen, as seems increasingly likely, make sure that next season is only a one-year break from visiting Sixways, as the Warriors’ time out of the Premiership proved.

(Follow The South Stand Choir on Twitter: @SouthStandChoir)

Match preview: Worcester Warriors v Newcastle Falcons

Friday 23^rd March 2012 – 7.45pm

Sixways, Worcester

Aviva Premiership #18

If the Falcons are going to have a chance of staying in the Premiership under their own steam, tomorrow night would be a perfect time to get a first win at Worcester in over seven years.

 

Worcester appear to be safe from relegation, being 12 points ahead of us in the table, but will want to make absolutely sure of not falling straight back into the Championship by beating us.

 

Should we lose at Sixways and Wasps beat Northampton on Saturday, then the gap at the bottom would be anything between 10 and 13 points, and with only four games left, three more wins that the Pests would perhaps be too much.

 

However, were the results to be the other way around, then we could be as little as three points behind Wasps and we play next – by next Friday night we could be off the bottom!

 

Lets not get ahead of ourselves though. As I’ve said, we have not been victorious at Worcester since September 2004, when Jonny Wilkinson played only his second competitive club game in 16 months, alongside debutant Colin Charvis. After our 9-30 victory that day, we have a run of defeats in WR3.

 

Falcons at Sixways:

25/01/1998 Cup R5                       W10-0

04/09/2004 Premiership               W30-9

28/04/2006 Premiership               L27-35

16/03/2007 Premiership               L21-23

25/04/2008 Challenge Cup SF      L16-31

10/05/2008 Premiership               L10-51

21/11/2008 Premiership               L11-26

07/11/2009 Cup                             L6-32

26/02/2010 Premiership               L0-13

 

So far this season the Warriors have had mixed results at their home ground. Following promotion in 2010/11 they won their first match back in the top flight when they hosted Sale, before losing to Harlequins, Wasps and Leicester at home, though they did beat Northampton in the midst of those losses.

 

Only two Premiership games have been held in Worcester in 2012, but both Gloucester and champions Saracens have been sent packing with defeats.

 

In addition to those, Worcester have beaten Wasps and Ospreys at Sixways in the LV= Cup and Bucharest Wolves and Banca Monte Crociati in Europe, but lost at home to Stade Francais back in October.

 

Their last outing three weeks ago was a 36-17 reverse at the Rec, when Tom Arscott and Miles Benjamin tries were not enough against the five-try Bathplugs.

 

The Falcons have of course recently re-signed Adam Balding, who left us for Worcester in 2010, but the two clubs have agreed that he will not play tomorrow night. Another link between the clubs is Polish-descended but London-born prop Oliver Tomaszcyzk. A former Falcons academy member, Tomaszczyk has mainly been used as a replacement in the Premiership this season but has started seven cup games.

 

Then there is our incoming Director of Rugby Dean Richards, who acted as an adviser at Sixways during his ban.

 

Peter Stringer will make his long-awaited Falcons debut tomorrow night, and James Goode makes his first start in the second row. Corne Uys is back from injury too and Jon Golding and Matt Thompson are in the front row alongside Euan Murray.

 

Falcons: 15 Jeremy Manning, 14 Corne Uys, 13 Jamie Helleur, 12 James Fitzpatrick, 11 Alex Tait, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Peter Stringer, 1 Jon Golding, 2 Matt Thompson, 3 Euan Murray, 4 Tim Swinson, 5 James Goode, 6 Taiasina Tu’ifua, 7 Will Welch, 8 Ally Hogg.

Replacements: 16 Joe Graham, 17 Grant Shiells, 18 Ashley Wells, 19 Adriaan Fondse, 20 Mark Wilson, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Rikki Sheriffe, 23 Greg Goosen.

 

 

So after three weeks and the Six Nations taking attention away from the club game for two months, it’s now time for the real business to start.

 

How the Falcons have been doing so far in 2012 suggests relegation would not be a disaster (if we come straight back up), but it would be good to get a head-start on the new era by beginning it in the Premiership. A win tomorrow night looks vital to ensuring that happens.

 

Oh, and if you are going to be listening to the game on BBC Radio Newcastle, you will hear me in the fanzone. So far I have a record of two (bonus point) wins, one draw and one defeat when doing games in the West Country!

 

 

(Follow The South Stand Choir on Twitter: @SouthStandChoir)

Club v Country

Now that the Six Nations is over, I thought I’d put together some of my thoughts on the club v country issue that does not rear its ugly head so often in rugby, although it is always bubbling under the surface with Premiership clubs playing on most international weekends.

 

Firstly, I recall when the Falcons played a friendly in Glasgow back in August 2007, just before the start of the French World Cup. Travelling up to Scotland on the Suppy Club coach, I discussed the question of Falcons v England with another fan and said that I would rather the Falcons won the league than England won the World Cup.

 

Heck, I said, I’d rather the Falcons won that night’s game (a friendly, remember) than England won the World Cup.

 

It’s not that I don’t want England to win, I was pleased they beat France and Ireland (though it didn’t bother me too much that I only managed to see the second halves of both games), and had a good shout at my TV when Tom Croft broke through for his try in Paris.

 

It’s just that I feel far more passionately about my club (from my city) than my country.

 

I’ll give you more evidence of this – in November 2008 I got tickets for England v Australia at Twickenham through the Falcons’ season ticket ballot, but the Falcons were playing London Irish the following day and I couldn’t get both days off work. So I gave up the England tickets and even after the Falcons’ dour home defeat, I didn’t regret my choice.

 

Maybe it’s a Geordie thing, as friends of mine who are as passionate about Newcastle United as I am about the Falcons tend to feel the same way about the England football team.

 

It was interesting back in February when myself and Ma Leipy watched the second half of England v Wales in a pub in Leicester city centre, having just watched the Falcons lose heavily at Welford Road.

 

I was annoyed that England were beaten and things weren’t coming off for them, but I wasn’t getting worked up, unlike a rather fired-up gentleman in a Tiggers shirt whose language might well have got him kicked out of the match he had presumably attended an hour earlier.

 

I have since discussed this with a Newcastle United-supporting friend whose knowledge of rugby goes little beyond what I tell him about the Falcons. He said that he finds that his university friends who support Manchester United get far more frustrated about the England football team than he does, and puts it down to the fact that they are used to their club winning, and so they get worked up about England losing more than he does.

 

I think you could say the same thing about myself and the gentleman with high blood pressure in the pub in Leicester.

 

If England win the Grand Slam or the World Cup, I’ll be happy. I’ll probably cheer quite loudly. But my rugby attention will soon turn back to the Falcons’ next match. After all, for me, that’s the most important thing.

 

 

(Follow The South Stand Choir on Twitter: @SouthStandChoir)

Falcons without the Newcastle?

Back in 2005, in order to get some content onto the Sportnetwork site during a Six Nations break, I wrote an article examining the issue of the Falcons’ name.

This was partly inspired by my experiences of football in the former East Germany, where teams are still often referred to by supporters by their Communist-era names. For example, Chemie Leipzig rather than the current Sachsen Leipzig. At their games, even the announcer calls the club Chemie.

VfB Leipzig were the first German national champions in 1903, and went bankrupt slightly over 100 years later. During the Cold War they were named Lokomotiv Leipzig, and when the club was reformed in the summer of 2004, the Lokomotiv name was chosen.

My point was that were the Falcons a German team, they would still be called Gosforth by us fans.

I consider Newcastle to be an integral part of the club’s name, perhaps because I am a Geordie born and bred, but also because I believe a club should have a regional identity, and that is expressed through its name.

I write this now because in the season ticket info that was sent to us from Kingston Park this week, ‘NEWCASTLE’ has been subtly removed from the logo.

I find this disappointing. Perhaps it is aimed at attracting spectators from elsewhere in the North East and Cumbria, but we already have plenty of non-Newcastle-based fans who aren’t put off.

We will still be a Newcastle-based club, but will presumably only be called ‘Falcons’ (as indeed the programme for the 1999 Tetley’s Bitter Cup Final called us). Newcastle will always be integrated in our history, since the club grew out of the original Gosforth FC, which was founded and played in Newcastle.

If the term Newcastle is so threatening, I could just about get used to ‘North East Falcons’ or ‘Northern Falcons’.

But just ‘Falcons’ gives rise to the idea of franchises, artificial constructs like many of those in professional sports in North America. But at least they still have place names too.

I know professional rugby is a business now, and that the priority is making money, with success on the pitch important only to that end. But to supporters it is so much more than that, it is something that gets us emotional, something we care about. Our club’s identity, our being able to identify with them, is a key part of that, and the best way for clubs to build up a loyal following.

I’ll still go to watch the Falcons if the ‘Newcastle’ is dropped. But I hope the club continue to recognise their regional identity.

(Follow The South Stand Choir on Twitter: @SouthStandChoir)

Falcons appoint Dean Richards as DoR

In February 2004, Leicester sacked their Director of Rugby and I immediately said that the Falcons should approach him to replace Rob Andrew.

Whether we did or not I don’t know. Perhaps he wasn’t interested. But if it wasn’t even considered, then it was a massive mistake as, following four titles and two Heineken Cups at Welford Road, that man went on to have success (and obviously just a tiny little bit of controversy) at Harlequins.

The man I am talking about will lead the Falcons next season.

Dean Richards.

Mark Smith broke the story in The Journal this morning, letting us know that Richards is ready to go, coming regardless of whether we stay up and unsurprisingly has stayed as close as possible to English rugby in anticipation of his return from a three-year ban.

I hear Uncle Semore signed Richards up a couple of weeks ago and I would be surprised if our new manager is not already watching videos of our training sessions, never mind matches, and he will be talking with Kurdi about who he wants to sign.

The fact that Richards cannot work with us until August may be a help for us, as he will be able to concentrate solely on next season as Gary Gold works to try to keep us in the Premiership.

If we are relegated however, that is no longer looking like a massive disaster, as long as we come straight back up of course.

Richards is a winner in every sense of the word, as he proved as a player and manager, and it is a shame that he was (rightly though) banned for his part in Bloodgate.

He will now be looking to prove what the game has been missing. I for one am absolutely chuffed that our Falcons will be the ones to benefit from that. What a statement of the club’s ambition in our new era!

The future’s bright, the future’s black!

(Follow the South Stand Choir on Twitter: @SouthStandChoir)

In defence of the drop

It’s around this time of year that the relegation argument always rears its head, as the Falcons and whoever our rivals at the bottom of the Premiership happen to be fight to retain their top-flight status.

I’m a staunch supporter of keeping relegation, so I thought since the Falcons don’t have a game this weekend I’d address some of the common arguments put forward in support of making the Premiership a closed shop.

——————————–

Removing relegation will make teams play more attractive rugby.

I do not agree with this at all. The Falcons or whoever is at the bottom of the league do not play attritional rugby because they are in danger of relegation, but because they believe (rightly or wrongly) that such a style of play represents their best chance of winning.

So let us say for a moment that if there were no relegation, the Falcons would play a more attractive game. Since we do not have the players or (previously) the coaching to pull it off, we would probably lose most games, and lose heavily. Do rugby fans in the North East want to watch a losing team just because they are playing attractive rugby? I have my doubts.

Removing relegation will make teams bring through young English players rather than buy in foreigners.

This is another I really do not understand. The Falcons did not sign Jimmy Gopperth over Jonny Wilkinson or Toby Flood – they signed him because Steve Bates believed Jimmy was the best fly-half available to us at the time. If there were a better English fly-half who would sign for us, we’d have him.

This also completely ignores the fact that the Falcons, Leeds, Worcester etc. DO bring through young English players. Not to mention that the top teams in the league such as Leicester and Harlequins also have plenty of foreigners. Heck, Saracens have built most of their success on foreigners, and made no secret of it!

Perhaps these clubs have their foreigners so they can win trophies – which is surely an ambition of all clubs.

If the Falcons couldn’t be relegated and played more young English players, they would logically be worse than the current foreigners we have. That would mean we would be more likely to lose games. Continuing the crowd issue from the previous argument, we would surely have lower attendances because the standard of play would be lower.

Not one that is mentioned that often but has been in the past: removing relegation will encourage clubs to invest in their facilities due to them having more long-term security.

You only have to look at Kingston Park and Sixways to know this argument is completely flawed.

Only two or three clubs in the Championship are capable of promotion.

Under the current system that is the case. But just because Bedford, Cornish Pirates, Doncaster etc. cannot currently be promoted, that is not to say that they will never meet the criteria.

Having an election system (like Super League) will encourage Championship teams to plan for the long-term.

Sandy Park and new stadiums for Plymouth Albion and (eventually) Cornish Pirates prove that teams will invest in their grounds under the current system if they want to and are able to.

Say we did have an election system, whereby every three years a new club was chosen to join the Premiership at the expense of a current incumbent over the past three years. Leaving aside the ethical argument of having a team’s status decided in a committee room rather than on the pitch, why would a team invest when there was only a chance of promotion every three years if they don’t when there is a chance of promotion every year?

——————————–

Improving the current system.

All of this is not to say that the current system does not need improvement. It is far too stacked, deliberately, in favour of the established Premiership clubs. I am in favour of a parachute payment for the team that is relegated to prevent mass redundancies and playing/coaching personnel changes, but every team in the Premiership should have the same central funding each season.

In fact, there is an argument for a promoted team getting more funding when they come up (perhaps replacing the parachute payment to the relegated team) to help them compete, but certainly it must receive equal money at least.

I would also increase promotion/relegation to two teams. Certainly one must be automatic but perhaps the second place could be through a playoff between the 2^nd to 5^th -placed teams in the Championship, or the 2^nd to 4^th along with the 11^th-placed team in the Premiership.

Having more promotion and relegation would mean that teams have a greater chance of returning to the Premiership after relegation, therefore potentially lessening the fear of the drop, while as more teams get experience of the top division, it becomes more competitive instead of the current system whereby only 13 or 14 clubs can realistically run Premiership teams.

The ground regulations must also be scrapped. If a stadium is good enough for the Championship, why is it not good enough for the Premiership? It clearly has facilities for Sky and the press, and sufficient access for ambulances in case of players being seriously injured.

I hear toilets are an issue – I would guess not since Exeter has portaloos, indeed they are far better than the brick outhouses at Leicester!

If need be, allow a club to be promoted and then have three years to get their ground up to the required standard or move to a new one.

The issue of “primacy of tenure” is particularly ludicrous. How many Premiership matches have had to be moved because a football team was playing at a team’s home stadium? I believe there have only been two – both involving Saracens, and each time Sarries were able to find an alternate ground on the same weekend so the match was played.

——————————–

Finally, I want to cite the example of last Friday’s match against Harlequins at Kingston Park. The Falcons needed a win as they battle to avoid relegation, and so performed excellently. The importance of the game, plus the price promotion, helped us get over 7,000 people in the ground. The atmosphere was brilliant.

If the game had meant nothing to us because there was no consequence for finishing bottom of the league, then I believe there would probably have been 1,000-odd quiet people at KP, watching Harlequins easily thrash the Falcons by 30 points.

I cannot believe that the latter scenario serves English rugby better than the former.

Match reaction: Newcastle Falcons 9-9 Harlequins

Friday 2 March 2012, 7.45pm

Kingston Park, Newcastle

Aviva Premiership #17

Gutted is the only way to describe how I and no doubt many other Falcons fans felt last night as the flags went up for Nick Evans’ last-kick equalising penalty.

Our team had taken on the league leaders with all the passion and commitment we ask of them and went into the final seconds of a brutal match with a 9-6 lead.

How different to those three Premiership horror shows at New Year. Though we have discovered a new, mounting problem with yellow cards, at least now the players look like they want to beat relegation.

We aren’t going down without a fight!

It was heartening to see a big crowd at KP like that, 7,000 people declining the easy option of watching on TV and instead goimg out and shouting themselves hoarse for the cause. Hopefully the performance will encourage most to come back for the Sale game in four weeks.

It seems some Harlequins fans were less than impressed by our approach last night though. I fail to see how Taiasina Tu’ifua allegedly taking out the odd dummy runner is “blatant thuggery” and means they “don’t want the likes of the Falcons in the Premiership”.

We were playing a top-class team while fighting for our lives, what did they expect? Gary Gold’s job is to win rugby matches, nothing else, and we near as damn beat the best team in England this season. That it didn’t please our opponents is their problem.

We did it without our best scrum-half, winger, tighthead and lock, no less.

I for one (though others have expressed similar sentiments) am proud of our team for their efforts last night.

Well, most of it. Why has the stupid kick-and-don’t-chase returned? I know it is better for the opposition to have the ball in their half than for us to have it in ours, but to win territory you have to press the other team back.

There is no point kicking the ball away only for the other team to have it five or ten metres in front of where you started. Or indeed to kick into the 22 without trying to take advantage.

Anyway, we have three weeks to try to sort our problems out until we go to Sixways for what will be a real must-win game.

If Wasps get nothing against Irish today then a win in Worcester will take us level or even off bottom. I thought about heading up to Adams Park today and lending the Exiles some Geordie support, but one trip to that godforsaken industrial estate is enough for one season thank you!

Might see if I can find some internet commentary.

Nothing we can do about that though. So all that I have left to say is well done to the boys for last night, even if the result wasn’t exactly what we wanted or needed.

Keep playing like that and we’ll keep cheering you, whatever happens in May.

(Follow The South Stand Choir on Twitter: @SouthStandChoir)

Match preview: Newcastle Falcons v Harlequins

Friday 2 March 2012 – 7.45pm

Kingston Park, Newcastle

Aviva Premiership #17

This weekend sees the end of the latest tranche of Premiership matches and a crucial 24 hours in the relegation battle as the Falcons host league leaders Harlequins tomorrow night ahead of Wasps’ home clash with London Irish on Saturday afternoon.

 

The gap at the bottom remained at six points last weekend, so a win for us would put some real pressure on Wasps.

 

That’s obviously quite an ask in a top v bottom game, but Quins haven’t won away from home since New Year’s Eve, a 9-11 victory at Exeter in the Premiership. Since then they have been downed at Northampton, Connacht and Cardiff in the league, Heineken and LV= respectively, ahead of last Saturday evening’s 29-23 loss to Gloucester at Kingsholm.

 

Ross Chisholm’s last-minute try secured a bonus point for Conor O’Shea’s side, which kept them six points ahead of Saracens at the summit of the table.

 

Quins last visited the North East a year ago amid a three-game winning run for the Falcons, who triumphed 33-18 thanks to tries by Luke Fielden, Micky Young and Alex Gray, overcoming an early try by Tom Williams created by a superb break from Ollie Lindsay-Hague.

 

The following Friday we beat the south Londoners at the Stoop in the LV= Cup semi-final, but in the grand scheme of things the Premiership victory was far more important.

 

Harlequins’ record in the North East shows no Premiership wins at KP for over five years:

11/09/1954                                     L9-35

03/09/1955                                     L5-18

01/09/1956                                     L0-9

09/09/1963                                     W5-3

24/02/1979 Cup R2                       W9-3

14/11/1987                                     L4-33

02/10/1993 Division 1                   L3-22

10/02/1996 Cup R5                       L22-44

15/02/1998 Premiership 1           W43-15

11/05/1999 Premiership 1           W33-23

05/12/1999 Premiership 1           L15-16

06/03/2001 Premiership               L22-24

16/09/2001 Premiership               D6-6

01/02/2003 Premiership               W32-17

04/01/2004 Premiership               L25-29

19/09/2004 Premiership               W22-21

10/11/2006 Premiership               L3-14

02/12/2006 Cup                             W21-18

29/09/2007 Premiership               W19-12

15/03/2009 Premiership               W24-16

25/09/2009 Premiership               D17-17

15/11/2009 Cup                             L8-19

04/03/2011 Premiership               W33-18

 

One of those games in the 1950s is thought to be the first time an English rugby union club side flew to play a game.

 

 

Harlequins’ Chris Robshaw has captained England so far in the Six Nations, finally getting a run in the side after starring for his club for several years. Mike Brown and Jordan Turner-Hall have made appearances off the bench, though Joe Marler is still awaiting his first cap.

 

Uuuuuuuugo Monye will no doubt be hopeful of getting back into the England squad, though despite scoring tries in each of the first three Premiership games of the season he has not crossed the line for Quins since. Nick Easter surely faces an uphill battle to get back his white shirt at the age of 33 following the emergence of Robshaw and Ben Morgan.

 

Scrum-halves Danny Care and Karl Dickson have had contrasting fortunes in terms of the national side this season, Care missing the World Cup due to injury before a scandal around Christmas and omission from the Six Nations squad, while Dickson was temporarily called up after the win in Scotland as cover for brother and former Falcon Lee.

 

There is a brother of not one but two current Falcons in the Quins’ squad in the shape of prop Nic Mayhew, the third Premiership player in his family alongside our own Richard and Michael.

 

Former blacks Pete Browne and Rory Clegg have both impressed at the Stoop since moving south in 2010 and 2009 respectively, though both have seen their appearances restricted this season.

 

Clegg has one of the toughest tasks of any player in England to get a starting shirt due to the presence at Quins of All Black fly-half Nick Evans, a match-winner on his day who scored his 1,000^th point for the club at Kingsholm in just his 92^nd appearance.

 

Despite injury scares both Grant Shiells and Euan Murray are in the starting lineup, which shows two changes from the side beaten at Welford Road. Ally Hogg moves to number eight as Taiasina Tu’ifua replaces Mark Wilson, and Adriaan Fondse returns from suspension for Andrew van der Heijden. Adam Balding could make a second Falcons debut from the bench, while James Goode is also a replacement.

 

Rob Vickers plays his 100^th game in a Falcons shirt and Alex Tait is the only loose back on the bench, interestingly. Hopefully the backs injury crisis isn’t returning.

 

15 Greg Goosen, 14 Tom Bedford, 13 Jamie Helleur, 12 James Fitzpatrick, 11 Jeremy Manning, 10 Jimmy Gopperth (c), 9 Chris Pilgrim, 1 Grant Shiells, 2 Rob Vickers, 3 Euan Murray, 4 Adriaan Fondse, 5 Tim Swinson, 6 Taiasina Tu’ifua, 7 Will Welch, 8 Ally Hogg.

 

Replacements: 16 Michael Mayhew, 17 Jonny Golding, 18 Ashley Wells, 19 James Goode, 20 Mark Wilson, 21 Adam Balding, 22 Will Chudley, 23 Alex Tait.

 

 

Conor O’Shea has Brown, Turner-Hall and Marler back from England for tomorrow night, though Robshaw is unavailable. Easter captains the team and Clegg and Browne are on the bench:

 

15 Mike Brown, 14 Tom Williams, 13 George Lowe, 12 Jordan Turner-Hall, 11 Ugo Monye. 10 Nick Evans, 9 Danny Care, 1 Joe Marler, 2 Chris Brooker, 3 James Johnston, 4 Olly Kohn. 5 Tomas Vallejos, 6 Tom Guest, 7 Luke Wallace, 8 Nick Easter (c).

 

Replacements: 16 Rob Buchanan, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Tim Fairbrother, 19 Pete Browne, 20 Will Skinner, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Rory Clegg, 23 Matt Hoppe.

 

 

If you still don’t have a ticket for tomorrow night, don’t forget it’s only £10 for adults and a fiver for the little ones. Let’s fill the ground and help the boys to a crucial victory!

 

 

(Follow The South Stand Choir on Twitter: @SouthStandChoir)