Rugby
Falcons Make Five Changes For Final Game
26 April 2007
Newcastle Falcons have made five changes to their side for Saturday’s final Guinness Premiership of the season, when Bath visit Kingston Park (kick-off 3.05pm).
The Falcons will be aiming to take their unbeaten home record to almost the six-month mark, as they eye a seventh-placed finish to the campaign.
In the second row director of rugby John Fletcher welcomes back Mark Sorenson and Jason Oakes in place of Andy Perry and Andy Buist, with the only other change in the pack coming at hooker as Andy Long replaces Matt Thompson.
The other two changes come in the backs where Jonny Wilkinson’s rib cartilage injury sees Tom May return to the side on the wing as Toby Flood shifts to fly half with Jamie Noon and Mathew Tait in the centres, while James Grindal replaces Lee Dickson at scrum half
On the bench there is a return for Hall Charlton as well as fit-again winger Ollie Phillips, for a match which Fletcher insists still has major significance.
“When you’re a sportsman and it’s your job, you want to win games,” he said.
“We can push up the table to seventh and give ourselves a chance of European rugby if there is to be a competition next season. Our home record of going unbeaten for nearly six months is something we are immensely proud of, and don’t underestimate the importance of that because we want to carry it on until at least the start of next season.”
Having lost narrowly against Bath down at The Rec earlier this season to a late score, Fletcher said: “We didn’t play well that day, it was a poor game, but one I still felt we should have won.
“They are a good side as they proved by beating Saracens at the weekend, and we know it will be a tough match. Their pack is as tough as any in the league, and they will ask a lot of questions of us.
“We are in reasonable shape after a good week of training, and as well as our team goals there are a few individual points to prove ahead of the England tour and the Churchill Cup for some of the boys.”
Looking back on his first campaign in the hot seat, Fletcher insisted there is still plenty of room for improvement despite strides having been made.
“I wouldn’t say the season has been a success, I can’t really back that up while we are sitting at eighth in the table, but what I can say is that we are moving forward both on the field and behind the scenes.
“In some aspects we are moving slower than I thought and in others we are ahead of where I imagined we would be. There are lots of positive things going on here on a daily basis that people don’t necessarily see, like processes being put in place and a real supportive culture developing within the group.
“Given that I inherited the squad about four hours before our first game of the season I am pretty comfortable with where we are at in our development. It will take time, but we are moving forward and there are things during the summer that we will work hard at as we look forward to the new campaign.
“It has been an okay season, no more than that, but this squad is going places and we are excited by the future prospects. We aren’t in the play-offs this season because we haven’t earned the right, we understand that and we are building a culture here now where we will be up there among that area.”
Highlighting the disparity between results at Kingston Park and on their travels, Fletcher said: “We have underachieved in terms of our results, especially away from home, but the level of performance on the road has actually pleased me for much of the time.
“We have scored 24 tries at home and 23 tries away this season in the league, but we’ve won every home game for the last six months and lost every away game during that same time. That is absolutely crazy, and from a pure rugby point of view a lot of our best play has been away from home. Clearly the next step is turning those performances in to victories, and that is something we are working on day by day.”
All seats for Saturday’s game have now sold out, but standing places are still available by calling 0871 226 60 60 or popping to Kingston Park during office hours and on match day itself.
Newcastle Falcons team to face Bath:
- 15 Matthew Burke (captain)
- 14 Tom May
- 13 Mathew Tait
- 12 Jamie Noon
- 11 John Rudd
- 10 Toby Flood
- 9 James Grindal
- 1 Joe McDonnell
- 2 Andy Long
- 3 Micky Ward
- 4 Mark Sorenson
- 5 Jason Oakes
- 6 Geoff Parling
- 7 Ben Woods
- 8 Phil Dowson
Replacements:
- Jon Golding
- Matt Thompson
- Andy Buist
- Brent Wilson
- Ollie Phillips
- Hall Charlton
- Loki Crichton
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