Richards: Sell-out Kingston Park will be rocking
KINGSTON Park should be a 10,200 sell-out for the first time since May 2008, and Newcsastle supremo Dean Richards said: “It will be a fantastic atmosphere and there’s nothing better than Kingston Park when it’s a sell-out.
“I played here when it was like that, the atmosphere is unbelievable and myself and the players are looking forward to it.
“Leicester are a good team and are also coming into this game with momentum from their big European win over Castres last weekend.
“They’re a hard-nosed team who have a certain amount of finesse – not as much as us – but at the same time they bring a hard edge to their game and a bit of niggle.”
Flanker Will Welch, 27, makes his 200th appearance for Falcons. He said: “It’s a great honour to have played so many games for the Falcons, especially as I used to come here as a supporter when I was a kid.”
Toby Flood starts his first Premiership game since rejoining the club, Sinoti Sinoti, Vereniki Goneva, Sonatane Takulua and Juan Pablo Socino return to the back line after missing last week’s 21-20 victory in Bordeaux.
Matt Toomua misses out for Leicester after injuring his knee but Adam Thompstone returns to the squad.
NEWCASTLE forwards coach Micky Ward reckons competition for places and a rock solid defence will underpin his side’s drive for a first top six finish in 16 years.
Falcons last ended a Premiership campaign in the top-half in 2002 – a time when Tyneside legend Ward, 38, was propping at coalface while stars like Jonny Wilkinson, Tom May, Jamie Noon, Pat Lam and Hugh Vyvyan were in their pomp.
Ward, right, is confident those glory days can be repeated. He told The
Rugby Paper: “Everyone always says they had their best pre-season, but we really felt we were ready this time and we’ve started the season exactly as we’d hoped.
“The big difference is we’re going to places like Bath, Sale and Exeter and picking up points, whereas before we’d come back with nothing.
“We’ve got genuine competition for places now. In previous years if we changed things up the quality of our play would drop a bit, but I feel now that we can give guys opportunities to rest without weakening the team.
“If we take Mark Wilson out, we’ve got Opeti Fonua to come in, and Toby Flood and Maxime Mermoz are champing at the bit to play. It’s been a few years in the making but we’re building a really solid squad that can challenge.”
Defensively Newcastle have scored highly, with three Trojan forwards in Will Welch (80 tackles), Calum Green (77) and Wilson (80) appearing in the top six Premiership tacklers over the first six rounds of top-flight action. Falcons average an 87 per cent tackle completion rate, the highest in the division, with Ward explaining: “John Wells, our defence coach, has put in a lot of work there and doesn’t leave many stones unturned in his analysis. “Things take time to put in place but he’s had a couple of years at defence now and the systems are bedding in. Our defensive combinations are becoming second nature and we’re reaping rewards from those solid foundations.” Ward reckons revitalised lock Green epitomises the Newcastle spirit of 2017 that can transport the club into a new golden age.
He added: “If you look at Calum, he joined us from Leeds three years ago and you’d say he was a bit of a plodder – an old-fashioned, right-hand side lock who’d hit a lot of breakdowns but not offer much else around the park.
“We challenged him to get fitter and sharper and if you look at him now, he’s flying around the park making tackles, hitting rucks and he’s developed a change of pace.
“He’s doing things people never thought he would and typifies the kind of improvements people are making throughout the whole squad.
“Guys are doing extras after training on their skills and tackling and that’s helping us get our stats up right across the board. That’s a huge bonus and we’ve got quite a few boys now who are putting their hands up for England.”