Falcons pair commit to Kingston Park

NEWCASTLE Falcons’ have received a major boost with two more players committing their futures to the club.

Calum Green and Michael Young have agreed extended contracts, much to the delight of director of rugby Dean Richards.

Lock-forward Green, 26, has started all but one of the Falcons’ 19 Aviva Premiership games this season, making a total of 65 appearances since joining from Yorkshire Carnegie in the summer of 2014.

Scrum-half Young, 28, is in his second spell with the Falcons, having come through the club’s academy before joining Leicester Tigers and then Bath.

Re-joining Newcastle in the summer of 2015, the Hartlepoolborn half-back has appeared a total of 120 times for the club.

Director of rugby Dean Richards said: “It is great news we have been able to agree new deals with another important pair of players.

“It emphasises the stability we are increasingly bringing to the club.

“Calum is an extremely consistent performer for us who does the real nuts and bolts of the game - he is hugely valued for his workrate and is one of the mainstays of our forward pack.

“Michael is a quality half-back who brings a lot to the side, he has a huge amount of Premiership experience and he is a local lad, so it is fantastic we have been able to agree these extensions.”

Young, who played his junior rugby for West Hartlepool RFC and Durham School, said: “It was an absolute no-brainer for me to stay with the Falcons and with the ambition being shown it looks like being a big few years for the club.

“I am loving being back in the region after a few years away.

“It feels like the club are making really positive strides and the chance to be here for another three seasons was not something I was going to turn down.”

Green, the Norfolk native who came through Leicester Tigers’ academy, said: “I am enjoying my rugby enormously at the moment so it was a very easy decision in terms of the new contract.

“We are really well coached, we have a great squad of players and our supporters are fantastic with us.

“The club have been very ambitious in terms of the recruitment and the plans they have for the future so it is great to have the paperwork sorted and to know I will be part of it.”