Falcons now must recover

Mar 31 2010 by Nick Purewal, The Journal

The halfbacks have had enough. Micky Young and Jimmy Gopperth told Nick Purewal it is high time for a Newcastle Falcons win tonight

AS the hush descended over the dejected Newcastle Falcons, Steve Bates pulled a timely punch to provide the second shock of a disappointing Sunday in Watford.

With the Falcons players gearing up for an ear-bashing of epic proportion after an abject seven-try slip-up at Saracens, rugby director Bates kept it surprisingly short.

His decision to leave the hairdryer unplugged might have raised a few eyebrows in the bowels of Vicarage Road, but scrum-half Micky Young (pictured right) believes it was by far the best tactic.

Already gripped by their three-game week at that stage, there was precious time to waste on extended inquests, especially when the capitulation was so clear-cut as to leave everyone groaning from the same dirge sheet.

Any other time though, said Hartlepool-born Young, and furious boss Bates would have fired an expletive-ridden salvo at his underperforming men.

“I think it would have been different at a different time of the season,” Young admitted. “If that had happened at the start of the season we would have been given a real b********g, but there isn’t time for that now with the turnaround and the situation.

“Also, it was pretty plain for everyone to see what happened out there at Saracens: it wasn’t good enough, we didn’t perform and all the players were really disappointed with our effort.

“So we were all on the same wavelength and we were furious with ourselves after the game, and I suppose in that situation it might not have helped much.

“We were quite shocked as a group, because we gave away a few tries and we missed some straightforward tackles, and that’s really the first time that’s happened this season.

“Usually our defence is pretty resolute, we pride ourselves on that, so for it to come apart like that is nowhere near good enough.

“But it was a good kick to us, something we can and must use to make sure we push on, get our game back together and in order for tonight.”

The North Sea replaced post-training ice baths on Monday as the Falcons made tentative rehabilitation steps back from Sunday, but the natural shock will not have been a patch on the horrors of the weekend.

The Falcons entertain Gloucester at Kingston Park tonight (kick-off 8pm) in their second clash of the week that ends with a Saturday trip to Harlequins. Backing the Newcastle coaches without second thought, Young said the players are desperate to prove Sunday was a one-off.

“We’re all right behind the coaching,” he said, “we’re all pleased with how we have prepared and what we are doing: the players trust in Alan Tait and Steve Bates, and we are confident we are doing the right things.

“Sunday was a blip and we’re desperate to put that right, starting tonight. We want to win as many games as we can now so that the Sale game isn’t an issue. Ambitions have had to shift since the start of the season, but that doesn’t mean we are talking and worrying about relegation – we are looking up not down.”

Furious with continued losses, Young’s halfback partner Jimmy Gopperth (pictured left) said the defeats only become more difficult to stomach.

From relegation worries to goal-kicking jitters, former Auckland Blue Gopperth finds himself craving every kind of pressure ahead of tonight’s vital clash. “I can’t remember the last time we won,” said the candid playmaker, ready to cut short the Premiership winless streak that dates back to the January 3 Wasps victory.

“So it’s about time we sorted that out and got a result in front of our own fans.

“We wouldn’t be professional rugby players if we didn’t hurt really badly after any loss.

“Every time we lose, every player hurts hugely, and we all feel it for days. My wife hates it when we have lost, because she knows what is going to walk through the door when I get home, and it’s not pretty.

“If you ever get to the stage where you don’t feel anything, that’s when it’s time to quit and hang up the boots.

“No one at Newcastle reacts like that, and no one reacted like that on Sunday.

“Back when I first started in the New Zealand Cup there was a promotion-relegation playoff at the end of the season, and that made teams think. But in the first year they scrapped that it opened things right up and teams at the bottom were beating teams at the top all the time, because the pressure was off and they just went out there and mixed things up.

“Relegation keeps teams honest, and it keeps people honest, but it’s pretty stressful for coaches and players too.

“It’s a pressure that you have to embrace though, and you have to accept it’s all part of the scenario. As for goal-kicking, if I was just a regular player then I would miss that pressure, as a goal-kicker you wouldn’t do that job unless you were ready to accept and embrace the pressure.”

NEWCASTLE FALCONS: A Tait, D Williams, G Bobo, T Tu’ipulotu, T Biggs, J Gopperth, M Young, J Golding, R Vickers, C Hayman (capt), F Levi, M Sorenson, B Wilson, E Williamson, J Afu. Replacements: A Walker, M Ward, G Shiells, J Hudson, T Swinson, C Pilgrim, T Catterick, R Vickerman.

GLOUCESTER: F Burns, C Sharples, J Simpson-Daniel, E Fuimaono-Sapolu, L Vainikolo, N Robinson, R Lawson, N Wood, O Azam, P Capdevielle, D Attwood, A Brown, P Buxton (capt), A Qera, A Eustace. Replacements: S Lawson, A Dickinson, R Harden, M Bortolami, A Satala, A Williams, T Taylor, J May.