We have to get job done, insists Steve Bates

Jan 18 2010 by Nick Purewal, The Journal

AFTER the heroics amid the histrionics, Steve Bates has told his Newcastle Falcons to get the job done without any hiccups this Friday night.

Falcons boss Bates was left nonplussed by his opposite number’s post-match fury in Albi after the visitors plundered the vital 16-14 European Challenge Cup win.

Home coach Eric Bechu was left declaiming conspiracy theories while refusing to shake rugby director Bates’ hand in a stereotypically-Gallic show of petulance.

Bates blew off the smoke-and- mirrors nonsense without any real concern, preferring rightly to focus on his side’s stirring late fightback to steal the crucial four points thanks to Josh Afu’s try and Jimmy Gopperth’s touchline conversion.

While the Falcons were slugging their way to victory on a heavy mid-France pitch though, their Pool Five rivals Montauban were racking up the necessary four tries for a win bonus at Petrarca.

Montauban’s 31-23 victory in Padova gives the Frenchmen the chance to overhaul top spot should they beat Albi at home on Friday night and Newcastle slip up against the Italians.

Their five-point victory cut Newcastle’s group lead to two points, but Bates knows if his men grab the win as expected then all such talk is rendered wholly impotent.

So it falls to his men to secure safe passage to the quarter-finals then, and Bates said all the players have appreciated all along the onus has been squarely on their shoulders to complete this task.

Petrarca have one solitary losing bonus point to their credit in a lacklustre ECC showing to date, that point coming when Newcastle struggled through torrential conditions on a water-logged Padova pitch.

That 29-27 result proved something of a turning point for the Falcons stuttering season, Newcastle benefiting from winning without hitting top gear to go on and dispatch Albi at Kingston Park before turning attentions to the league and that handsome win at Bath.

A late Micky Young try that day saved egg from smattering faces and Newcastle have built pleasingly since – and Bates has reminded his men all their hard work must pay off at Kingston Park on Friday.

“He said: We simply had to win at Albi, which was evident, and the same is true of this weekend now too.

“After defeat at Montauban there was slightly more pressure on the result, but there is always pressure and we dealt with that well enough.

“We left it late, but we gained the win and in conditions like that you just have to do what you have to do.

“The Padova game was a real scrap over there for us, but again it was one we came out of on the right side, even though it was tight of course.

“So there are two away wins now which have been close, but you never expect to get anything lightly away from home in European competition.

“We do not want to make it three tight wins if we can avoid it, because we want to get into our stride in front of our own fans and wrap the pool up well.

“First and foremost we have to get the job done, but we have to do that by controlling the game, which means controlling the scoreboard just as much as anything else.

“We do not want to go into the last quarter with any wobbles, or needing points or anything like that.

“It is in our hands, so it is up to us to get it done and without any drama either.

“A home quarter-final would be an exciting prospect for the supporters and the players.”