Park life suits Falcons as they take over Toon
DAY OUT AT ST JAMES’ PROVES A VERY BIG HIT
DEAN Richards wants Newcastle Falcons to play at St James’ Park again, claiming the atmosphere during Saturday’s win even rivalled international games.
A club-record 30,471 fans packed into the Magpies’ home ground for a tense 25-22 win over Northampton Saints, victory keeping Richards’ men in the hunt for a top-four Premiership finish.
A provisional date has been agreed to host another Falcons’ game at St James’ Park next season as the club seeks to capitalise on a purple patch for the region’s top rugby side.
Richards said he has long insisted there is a sizeable rugby community in the North East waiting to be tapped into.
The Falcons ended the weekend fourth in the Premiership table, their next game in the European Challenge Cup quarter-final at Kingston Park on Good Friday.
However, Richards is also keen to return to St James’ Park at some point.
He said: “Hopefully we will do that again. The atmosphere was probably one of the best at a game I have seen in a long, long time, be it at an international or whatever. I thought the occasion was fantastic.
“I don’t think anyone – other than Saints supporters – will be going home not having enjoyed it.”
He added: “St James’ Park is a fantastic stadium as we have known for a little while since the World Cup in 2015, so in that respect we were just itching to get here.
“With a crowd of 30-odd thousand it was absolutely brilliant on the day.”
With Newcastle, Richards faced arguably his biggest test of his rugby career when he took over in 2012, the side recently demoted to the Championship. After an illustrious playing career with Leicester, England and the British and Irish Lions, he has also coached the Tigers and Harlequins to success.
By contrast, Newcastle have had little success over the past two decades, struggling on the pitch for much of that time while financially limited compared to England’s bighitters.
However, Richards recognises the sporting potential of the North East and believes there is room in the region for the oval ball as well as the round one.
He added: “There is more to Newcastle than just football because I think it is a sportsmad city and the region is sportsmad as well.
“Before we came here (to St James’ Park), I popped into the club (Kingston Park) and there were 20 50-odd-seater buses there with kids coming up to play in the Land Rover Cup.
“On top of that, about 30,000 people came up and supported the occasion, which is fantastic and shows the level of support and the level of interest in the area.” He added: “The boys are out there mingling with their relatives and a lot of friends are here.
“That is the beauty of rugby in the North East - it is such a small community but there are still 30,000 people who want to watch a game.”
While much of the focus was on the occasion, the game was still a significant one for a team chasing a surprise Premiership play-off berth. With just four games to go in the league campaign, only champions Exeter Chiefs have won more games than the Falcons. Yet with the league table so tight – just six points separate second and sixth – victory on Saturday was key. The Falcons struggled to break down a resilient Northampton defence, instead relying on Toby Flood’s boot to rack up 20 of their 25 points. Richards saw areas for improvement but credited his side’s discipline for making the difference. He said: “It was a proper rugby game. “We got over the line in the end but we were a little bit frustrated by our accuracy at times but, having said that, I thought we probably deserved to win it. “We were about eight or 10 points ahead during the first half and then we conceded that second try and allowed them back into the game. “Then when we said that, when they scored, we went and got a try or a penalty straight back. ” “Fair dues to them, they (Northampton) almost took their chance at the end and a bit of a lack of accuracy cost them. “Fair credit to our boys, though, they were disciplined throughout, which I don’t think Northampton were - and that is probably what secured us the win.”
St James’ Park is a fantastic stadium as we’ve known for a little while, so we were just itching to get here Dean Richards