Falcons must be ruthless against Edinburgh
Dean Richards wants a “ruthless” approach from his Newcastle team today when they tackle Edinburgh in the Heineken Champions Cup.
Victory for the Falcons at Kingston Park could take them top of Pool Five in the race for a quarter-final place.
Newcastle rugby director Richards has made 11 changes from the side beaten by Edinburgh last weekend, with the likes of Vereniki Goneva, Toby Flood and Mark Wilson all returning to action.
And considering Newcastle have already beaten French heavyweights Toulon and Montpellier in Europe this season, it would be no surprise to see them turn the tables on Richard Cockerill’s men.
“We knew last week was going to be hard as we had so many boys carrying bumps and bruises which meant we couldn’t field them,” Richards said.
“But Sunday is slightly different because they’ve been given that recovery time they needed and it is a slightly different team.
“That is not taking anything away from the boys who played last week, because I thought a lot of them played well.
“The loss of power in the scrum was obviously a factor, but we are not in the business of making excuses. We’ve just got to turn it up a bit this week and get a positive outcome.
“It’s all about getting that win and being really ruthless in terms of how we execute our game-plan.
“The Champions Cup is exciting. It’s different, you are playing sides from different leagues with different outlooks and experiencing something new.
“The boys love it, and to go over into a rugby-mad atmosphere like Toulon in round one was something that really got them pumped up.
“To then win at home against a Montpellier side who have been near the top of the French game for a number of years was pretty special, and the team are lapping it up.”