Rugby
Falcons prepare for Friday 13th
John Fletcher has thrown down the gauntlet to his Newcastle Falcons side as they prepare for Friday’s Guinness Premiership clash against Gloucester, insisting they will need no motivating despite the threat of relegation from the Guinness Premiership having gone.
The Falcons’ 16-7 win over Northampton on Sunday dispelled any distant fears of the drop, with Fletcher stating: “We’re pleased that the mathematical threat of relegation has now gone, because it means journalists will stop asking me about it.
“As a team we never spoke about it, our goal was to win the last three home games of the season and that hasn’t changed. Maybe I underestimated the impact the whole relegation thing was having on some of the players because they looked very nervous last Sunday and went into their shells a bit, but having said that their character shone through in spades.”
“Our work rate, defence and collision stuff was immense, and we had a tackle count of well over 230 which is the highest I think I’ve ever seen in any game of rugby. We worked as hard as we’ve ever worked, and just got the job done even though we never really got in to our plays.”
“If you’d walked in to our changing room after the final whistle you would have thought we’d lost the game because there were a lot of pretty depressed people in there. That just goes to show what sort of high standards we’re setting ourselves, and hopefully we will see a different level of performance on Friday.”
Asked how he will motivate his side with relegation now out of the equation, a bullish Fletcher insisted: “There’s still lots to play for, and I don’t buy in to this argument for one second that our season is finished.
“Motivation is never difficult, because it’s your job and your professional pride is on the line. These guys are professional sportsmen, and if you take them on at even ping-pong or chess they’ll try to beat the living daylights out of you – that’s just the competitive nature of the beast.”
“When you’re a professional sportsman it’s your job and your livelihood, so I don’t agree with this stuff about people wanting it more because they have more to play for. There’s no way that their team will be more motivated than ours, and there’s no way that Dean Ryan wants to win this game more than I want to win this game.”
“We have a chance of pushing for sixth or seventh in the league which may give us a Heineken Cup place if there is to be an involvement in that competition from the Premiership clubs. That means two big wins from us, but we’re capable of getting those and finishing the season on a high.”
“We have an unbeaten home run to maintain, and don’t underestimate the pride we’ve taken in going over five months winning every game at Kingston Park, including beating all four of the Heineken Cup semi-finalists. We have lots and lots to play for.”
Fletcher also addressed the wider picture with international selection on the horizon, stating: “From a player point of view as well as our team goals there are a lot of personal issues at stake, like involvement in the Churchill Cup, the full England tour and obviously the World Cup.
“We’re used to seeing our backs getting picked for international stuff, but a number of our forwards our really putting their hands up.”
“The Saxons games might be the route in, but I strongly feel guys like Ben Woods and Phil Dowson should be involved, then you have people like Andy Buist, Geoff Parling and John Rudd putting their hands up. There aren’t many English hookers playing better than Matt Thompson in the Premiership at the moment, Micky Ward has been very consistent in the last few months and David Wilson is coming back this week, so it’s about time some of these lads got recognised internationally.”
Looking to Friday’s contest Fletcher praised the high-flying Cherry and Whites, saying: “I think Gloucester are the best footballing side in the Guinness Premiership.
“We aren’t far behind them in that aspect of the game, but they are second in the league and we are eighth because they have had other parts of their play in better order than we have for parts of the season. We are working hard on those aspects, but it all points to an exciting game between two sides who like to play rugby the right way. It was a cracking match at Kingsholm a couple of weeks ago, and I don’t see any reason why it won’t be again this time round.”
With a forward battle forming part of what promises to be a fascinating encounter, Fletcher said: “Gloucester don’t rate our pack, and that’s fine by us because we can use it as ammunition to get fired up on the day.
“Our forwards have played well recently with the work that Peter Walton and Ian Peel have done, and maybe we can surprise a few people down there with the improvements we’ve made. I thought at Kingsholm we caused them more problems than they caused us, but ultimately with a couple of contentious decisions they got the result. I’m not going to twist on about the referee again because I’m starting to sound like Neil Warnock, but there was enough in the game down there to suggest that we have a good chance second time round.”
“If we play as badly in certain areas as we did last weekend then we’ve got no chance because Gloucester are a top quality side, but if we play as well as we have prepared this week then we can beat anyone.”
A big plus for Fletcher is the return to the starting XV of No.8 Phil Dowson after five months out, stating: “Phil was in outstanding form earlier this season, worked hard in rehab and has done well in his outing for the Development Team and 20 minutes off the bench against Northampton on Sunday.
“He is a good player, and we want to give him an opportunity to play because there are other things going on for him at the moment with selection for the Churchill Cup and the England tour coming up. He should be involved in at least one of those, and I’m looking forward to seeing him out there on Friday.”
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