Kibirige is looking on the bright side
ZACH Kibirige is ready to reignite Newcastle Falcons’ Premiership Rugby Cup flame at Harlequins on Sunday after admitting to mixed emotions last weekend.
The Teessider marked his 24th birthday by scoring a hat-trick of tries in the 22-22 home draw with Exeter Chiefs, saying: “It was nice to get three tries but frustrating not to record the win, especially from the position we had put ourselves in at 12 points up with 15 minutes to go.
“You definitely have to be putting games to bed in those circumstances but it came down to individual errors, from myself included, and that was the disappointing aspect.
“It felt like a loss rather than a draw, to be honest, but we have to remember there was decent rugby played as well.”
Elaborating on the positives from last weekend and looking forward to Sunday’s televised encounter at the Twickenham Stoop, Kibirige added: “We were pretty good on the counter-attack, our ball-in-hand caused Exeter quite a lot of threat and I thought the kicking game of Sam Stuart and Brett Connon in the half-backs was excellent.
“Some of our attacking shape can be tightened up and we can look after the ball a bit better - but other than that we were looking dangerous at times.
“In terms of what Harlequins will offer, traditionally they are a team who like to play and to keep the ball alive and from analysing some of their recent games that is definitely a philosophy they have stuck to.
“We can look at that and in some ways exploit it by putting them in the wrong areas of the field from their perspective.
“If they try and play out then our defence has to rise to that challenge but they are a dangerous side and we are by no means taking them lightly.”
Benefiting from the opportunity offered by the Premiership Rugby Cup, he added: “From a playing point of view the cup is great in terms of giving guys an opportunity to play and from the coaching side it has been fantastic to see guys like Mark Laycock and James Ponton getting more of a role.
“That is not meant in a negative way towards any of our other coaches but it is naturally refreshing to hear different voices and try things in a slightly different way.
“The focus has been tweaked a bit and other guys have been given a rest, which is what you want in terms of driving the competition within the group.
“The positivity has been high as a result of what we have done in Europe and what we are starting to show that in the cup, the hope being of course we can translate that momentum into the Premiership in a few weeks.”
■ ENGLAND head coach Eddie Jones has chosen Newcastle Falcons flanker Mark Wilson (pictured
left) to start at No 8 against South Africa in the first autumn international.
Wilson will win his fifth cap for the national side and represents the answer to England’s pack dilemma with regular number eights Billy Vunipola, Nathan Hughes and Sam Simmonds all unavailable.
The Falcons’ ace won his first international cap last summer and will look to use the match as an opportunity to claim a spot in Jones’ World Cup plans for next year.