Heavyweight pack beefs up Bates’ squad

Jul 2 2009 by Nick Purewal, The Journal

SIZE has never been everything in rugby, but Steve Bates admits extra Newcastle Falcons beef will be a big help this term.

The Kingston Park starting pack ought to have a meatier feel about it this season to combat the return of the driving maul, and rugby director Bates believes fielding a heavier eight was always going to be vital.

Once the Falcons found fluency behind the scrum last term the pack’s potency grew week on week – but Bates and his coaching team knew the potential maul return would force them into a reshuffle of sorts. That the likes of captain Phil Dowson and locks Geoff Parling and Andy Buist moved to pastures new opened up the chance to add weight to the engine room.

Lineout force James Hudson (pictured right) will boost the set piece while also offering penetrative athletic running in the wider channels, while Samoan captain Filipo Levi adds considerable bulk to the back-row.

With Adam Balding continuing in the loose-forward mix, Brent Wilson again offering continuity from openside and Ed Williamson’s physical approach too, Bates is relishing the competition for places as well as the hard work to gel all the new faces together into a formidable team.

Falcons’ assistant coach Alan Tait earlier this week admitted the maul return had provided him with a few headaches and from a defensive standpoint would be a nightmare.

While Tait remains confident all will come good in that department with a lot of hard work honing specific techniques, he still admitted reservations around the once-again rejigged ruling.

Bates, though, remains confident he and his fellow coaches will have the new-look pack not only snuffing out driving maul threats, but offering them themselves at the other end of the pitch.

Admitting up-front recruitment was always about finding that delicate balance between physical enough and simply too much plodding, Bates said the coaching staff are working hard to turn the maul return in their favour.