Pack has to cope without Carl Hayman

Mar 24 2010 by Nick Purewal, The Journal

CARL Hayman might have raised the Kingston Park bar, but Steve Bates has challenged the rest of the Newcastle Falcons to sustain the heights next season and beyond.

Hailing world-class tighthead prop Hayman for pushing the Falcons’ forward play to dazzling new levels after years of perceived weakness, Falcons rugby director Bates has laid down the gauntlet to the other Newcastle forwards.

Calling on his pack to prove they can flourish in Hayman’s absence next season when the All Black legend joins Toulon, Bates said the Falcons must outline that ambition in the coming weeks.

The Falcons face their toughest period of the season starting on Sunday when they travel to Saracens in the first of three Guinness Premiership games in seven days.

Hosting Gloucester at Kingston Park on the following Wednesday night, the Falcons then make another arduous trip down south to take on Harlequins at The Stoop on Saturday week.

With half their remaining league fixtures condensed into one week and a nail-biting finish ahead with just nine points separating the bottom six teams of the table, Bates said the Falcons can climb clear of the relegation argument should they hit form in that congested week.

“Whatever happens in the next six games,” asserted Bates, “Carl’s influence has been massive in terms of turning what has been a pack that’s been looked at as a fairly easy touch in this league, into a pack that’s actually feared by a lot of people.

“And I think his influence and the way he has been such a rock in that structure will hopefully give this group of forwards and the next generation of forwards loads of confidence to understand that they do have a massive responsibility as to how the game is played.

“The players are a very tight-knit bunch and they will have been aware of what was going on.