Lack of creativity and defensive mistakes blamed

DEAN Richards slated his Newcastle Falcons side for their poor display on both sides of the ball after Friday’s defeat to Gloucester.

The director of rugby was frustrated with his side’s lack of creativity in attack while rueing costly defensive mistakes.

But despite the defeat – Newcastle’s fourth in a row in the Aviva Premiership – he is not concerned by the club’s descent down the league standings.

The 29-7 scoreline didn’t flatter the visitors as they showed more patience, nous and thrust than Newcastle did at the right times.

After starting the season with a rampaging attack and stern defence, the pendulum has swung the other way in the league recently.

Richards said after the game he believes there are only ‘ minor things’ required to halt the slide.

But he made it clear he was not happy with his side’s meek performance on either side of the ball and expects more of his players.

He said: “I was equally as frustrated with both.

“We’ve scored tries for fun over the last two or three months so that was concerning and frustrating.

“We didn’t do that well last week and again I think a similar tactic in defence caused us to panic a little bit and we just need to have a little bit more patience and accuracy and we’ll be fine.

“Defensively we’re alright but we make a lot of mistakes and there were two or three plays that they run off setpiece that we learned this week and still the boys got their roles wrong and they scored tries.”

The Falcons sit ninth in the table but little separates the pack in the league this season.

And though the bright start to the season had faded somewhat in recent matches, Richards is not fazed by the dip in form.

When asked if the run of defeats was concerning, he said: “No, we’ve got around seven boys coming back from international rugby and a few boys injured as well, Maxime Mermoz, Micky Young, guys like that.

“We’re fine, it’s just frustrating more than anything.”

Of the returning international players, he added: “We’ll have a look at how they get on, what state they turn up in and then we’ll make a decision later in the week.”

The absence of playmakers such as Sonatane Takulua, away on international duty with Tonga, was noticeable in Friday’s loss.

Fellow backs Josh Matavesi and Referee JP Doyle awards a try to Mark Wilson of Newcastle Falcons during the Aviva Premiership clash with Gloucester Rugby