Falcons pull off late ‘robbery’ to leave Richards upbeat for Edinburgh clash
Dean Richards hopes Newcastle’s “robbery” will help to inspire a quick escape from their European pool to the next phase. Falcons, who lead Pool Five with two wins, fixed their sights on a crucial Champions Cup double-header against Edinburgh after rediscovering their Premiership form in an injury-time win over Northampton.
For Richards, four valuable points from the victory did not just aid their cause at the bottom of the table, it supported his belief that far better things lie ahead. And that the players who helped the club to emerge as a real force last season by reaching the play-offs still harbour that “never-say-die spirit”.
However, the director of rugby warned that Edinburgh will provide an even stiffer test of that character at Murrayfield on Friday.
He said: “The two games with Edinburgh are going to be very difficult. They are a good side and very combative. They have a lot of quality over the ball and will be very competitive at the breakdown.
“They also have two excellent ball-carriers, one of which, Viliame Matam, is one of the best in Europe at the moment. Unlike in the Premiership, where we have struggled to win games, we’ve made a good start in Europe and top the pool. If we can get one or maybe two wins from the games with Edinburgh, it would put us in a strong position.
“Beating Saints puts us in a good place going into Europe. We don’t look at the Premiership table because we don’t feel we’re going to be down there in March or April. That’s not arrogance, it’s a genuine belief within the group that we have the quality to pull away.
“It was probably a bit of a robbery to beat Northampton, but the boys stuck in there. We just don’t know when we’re beaten.”
England flanker Mark Wilson’s try deep into injury time after Dan Biggar was shown a yellow card for Saints sealed a remarkable win for the visitors.
Northampton, though, must quickly shrug off the loss and regroup before flying to Romania to face Timisoara Saracens. And South African scrum-half Cobus Reinach, who grabbed two tries, admitted: “There’s plenty to work on in training. We have to fix the little stuff.”