Rugby
Falcons Team Sheet
27 September 2007
Newcastle Falcons have made four changes and one positional switch for Saturday’s Guinness Premiership clash against Harlequins at Kingston Park (kick-off 6pm).
Captain Phil Dowson moves to openside flanker due to the broken hand which sees Ben Woods out for six to eight weeks, with former South Africa A captain Russell Winter slotting in to the vacated No.8 spot.
Fit-again Jason Oakes returns at lock following the knee injury which ruled him out of the first two weeks of the season as Andy Perry makes way – the only other change to the pack being at hooker where Andy Long replaces Matt Thompson.
England Saxons scrum half Lee Dickson makes his first start of the Guinness Premiership season in place of James Grindal, while the back line is otherwise unchanged as Newcastle look to record their second home win of the season.
Going in to the game on the back of a 19-0 defeat at London Irish, director of rugby John Fletcher said: “Last weekend was disappointing because we thought we’d prepared well, and we didn’t see that performance coming.
“Our defensive effort was actually really good with very few missed tackles and a lot of dominant hits, but when you concede as much possession as we did then the result is pretty inevitable so we know where our focus is this weekend.”
With the absence of Ben Woods affecting his selection for Saturday, Fletcher said: “Losing Ben is a big blow to us because he was arguably our best forward last season, and then Andy Buist has been one of our outstanding recent performers before getting injured during the Sale game.
“Ben has a double fracture to his hand and has had a plate inserted, while Andy will see a specialist this weekend about the tear in his shoulder. It may be the case that we just manage Andy’s workload during the week and get him fit for match days, although there is a chance we may need to operate in which case he will be out for a few months.
“Injuries are part of the game unfortunately, and it’s the same for all clubs so I’m not trying to say we’re worse off than anyone else. This week we welcome back Jason Oakes and Russell Winter to the starting XV from injury, so it’s just the usual revolving door of one in one out that rugby teams have to deal with most weeks.”
Assessing Saturday’s opponents, Fletcher said: “Quins pushed London Irish around for early parts of their game when they met two weeks ago, so if it turns in to a pure arm wrestle then we have a tough day ahead of us because that is where they are strong. What we have to do is win our own ball, which we didn’t do last weekend, and then move the play around the field and try to impose some pace on the game. That isn’t easy because Quins will try and slow the game down, but we know what we have to do.
“Harlequins are a good side with a big pack, and they thrive off momentum. They do have pace and threat in the backs, so we know what we’re up against and we have prepared well during the week.”
Focusing on his own selection, Fletcher said: “Andy Long comes in after some decent showings from the bench, while the return of Jason Oakes means we have a bit more edge in the tight areas with the way he plays the game. Russell Winter performed well from the bench last weekend and gets a start due to Ben Woods being out, while Phil Dowson switches to openside.”
Explaining the balance of his back row, he added: “The way that Phil plays is pretty much like a seven anyway, getting on the ball and looking for turnovers, so to have a back row consisting of him, Russell and Geoff Parling gives us good balance with the pace and impact play of Brent Wilson to come from the bench.
“Geoff has played in the back row pretty much all the time that I’ve coached him ever since he left school, apart from a few games in the second row, but the difference between one of your locks and your six in the modern game is virtually nothing. In fact the difference between six, seven and eight in the back row is pretty much non-existent – everyone is a six-and-a-half.
“The No.8 does have some additional duties at the base of the scrum which are important, but apart from that they all tackle and they all carry the ball. If you look at the game stats your six, seven and eight all make a similar number of tackles and a similar number of runs. If anything your six will probably be your best carrier because they tend to get their hands on the ball a little more, and judging by this season Geoff has been our top man for carries so he fulfils that role for us. We have good balance in this back row, and I look forward to seeing how it goes this weekend against an excellent Quins pack.”
With no changes to the backs other than the inclusion of Lee Dickson at scrum half, Fletcher said: “I thought the inside backs defended well last weekend, they made very few errors in the tackle and with the limited ball they had they coped reasonably well.
“We never had much of a chance to go at the opposition purely because we didn’t have the ball in good areas of the field, but with more possession this Saturday I expect a lot more of an attacking threat.”
Asked what sort of game he expects this weekend, Fletcher stated: “Matches between us and Harlequins are not normally that pretty to watch, but they’re very competitive and after the week we have had in training we know we are ready to deliver a different level of performance.
“A lot has been said this week, and we expect the early parts of the game to be very feisty. What we need to do is make sure we can get a decent share of the possession and move Quins around the field, so if we can do that then we firmly believe we stand a very good chance.”
Tickets for Saturday’s game are still available by calling 0871 226 60 60, or from the Kingston Park box office for match day cash sales.
Newcastle Falcons team to face Harlequins:
- 15 Matthew Burke
- 14 Tom May
- 13 Tom Dillon
- 12 Joe Shaw
- 11 John Rudd
- 10 Steve Jones
- 9 Lee Dickson
- 1 Joe McDonnell
- 2 Andy Long
- 3 Micky Ward
- 4 Jason Oakes
- 5 Mark Sorenson
- 6 Geoff Parling
- 7 Phil Dowson (captain)
- 8 Russell Winter
Replacements:
- 16 Matt Thompson
- 17 Jon Golding
- 18 David Wilson
- 19 Andy Perry
- 20 Brent Wilson
- 21 James Grindal
- 22 Adam Dehaty
Not considered due to injury: Andy Buist (shoulder), Mark Mayerhofler (hand), Ben Woods (hand), Ross Beattie (shoulder), Jamie Noon (knee).
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