Radwan to miss Falcons’ KP clash
DEAN Richards believes Newcastle Falcons are a match for anyone at their Kingston Park home – but they will have to navigate today’s clash with Northampton Saints without star wing Adam Radwan.
The England flyer has to isolate and will miss the 3pm kick-off with Tom Penny replacing him, one of three changes in the Newcastle XV.
The pack, however, will be strengthened by the returns of hooker George McGuigan and No 8 Callum Chick, coming in for Charlie Maddison and Carl Fearns respectively. Fit-again England hooker Jamie Blamire is able to take up a place on the bench.
After a 31-0 drubbing at unbeaten league leaders Leicester Tigers last week, Newcastle will look to get their maiden win of 2022 – and their first home league victory since October – today against a Saints side that lost 30-6 against Saracens on Sunday.
Hoping for a repeat of last season’s home victory against Northampton, director of rugby Richards said: “Getting back in front of our home supporters will be a massive thing for the boys, having missed out on the Boxing Day game.
“We like being on our pitch, and even though the weather has been a bit lively during the week, the forecast for the weekend is actually not too bad.
“Northampton are a good side, and you can’t take anything away from them.
“They love to play their rugby, they’ll be a tough proposition but at the same time we’re competitive against anybody on our own patch.”
The Welford Road defeat was a poor one for the Falcons, who became the first side not to score a point in a top flight game since London Irish in March 2020.
Richards admitted there was some ‘frank talking’ after the loss but said the players have learned lessons from the display.
“We were very disappointed last weekend,” he said. “We didn’t deserve to win, we didn’t play the conditions well and our execution wasn’t great. You’ve also got to take into account the fact that Leicester had something like 180 caps worth of experience at half-back, and that experience told on the day.
“They don’t play in their own half, they have a good kick-chase and they put teams under pressure. They kick more than any other team in the Premiership but they’re really accurate with it, and their outside backs are picked predominantly for their ability to chase kicks.
“Territory for them is everything, and they won that battle handsdown last weekend. We had plenty of the ball but it was in the wrong areas, and once you get into that spiral Leicester are really effective at pouncing on you and compounding every error.
“The main lesson we’ve taken from last weekend is how to put the pressure onto the opposition quicker than what we did at Welford Road.”
On Northampton, he added: “They’ve got quality in their pack, as they do out wide, and it will be a difficult game.”
NEWCASTLE FALCONS TEAM V NORTHAMPTON SAINTS (today, 3pm, Kingston Park): 15 Mike Brown, 14 Tom Penny, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Joel Hodgson, 9 Louis Schreuder; 1 Kyle Cooper, 2 George McGuigan, 3 Trevor Davison, 4 Greg Peterson, 5 Sean Robinson, 6 Philip van der Walt, 7 Will Welch (captain), 8 Callum Chick. REPLACEMENTS: 16 Jamie Blamire, 17 Adam Brocklebank, 18 Mark Tampin, 19 Carl Fearns, 20 Gary Graham, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Brett Connon, 23 George Wacokecoke.