Hardie has score to settle with Edinburgh

Team-mates say Newcastle flanker wants revenge for his treatment in Scotland, reports Richard Bath

Revenge, they say, is a dish best served cold. That will suit Newcastle Falcons openside John Hardie, because when the former Edinburgh flanker starts for his new club against his old one at Kingston Park today, the forecast is for plummeting mercury and a white-hot contest between two clubs for whom victory would virtually assure them of qualification for the knockout stages of a Champions Cup that climaxes with a final at St James’ Park, Newcastle.

That wider picture is unlikely to be on Hardie’s mind, however. Instead, the Kiwi, who won 16 caps for Scotland before allegations of drug use saw him ejected from both Scotland and Edinburgh, will be focusing on making a point after his treatment and subsequent exclusion from Scotland squads. Hardie has a point. Dragged out of bed in the middle of the night and forced to go alone to Murrayfield, where he was apparently cajoled into admitting to misdeeds, his treatment was one of the main reasons Scotland players voted to form a union.

Although Hardie received much sympathy from his Edinburgh team-mates and has not spoken publicly about the episode, his new colleagues are in no doubt about his approach to today’s meeting with his old team. “I know John and he is really looking forward to getting out there against Edinburgh,” laughed Falcons hooker George McGuigan. “I think he’s got a bit of a point to prove against them so it’ll be exciting to see him try to tear it up. He’s not the sort who holds back so he should be flying into them. Trust me, it’ll be exciting.”

Nor is Hardie the only player for whom there is a sense of unfinished business in a match replete with sub-plots. After Newcastle’s 31-13 defeat at Murrayfield last week, when their inability to field a tighthead led director of rugby Dean Richards to field effectively a second XV, there is a general sense that Newcastle need to prove what they are really made of. For Scotland hopefuls George Graham and Chris Harris, who both played last week but failed to impress, that impulse is particularly strong.

McGuigan is another with a point to prove, although he will need to do it off the bench. The hooker spent two years at Leicester Tigers after being coaxed there by current Edinburgh coach Richard Cockerill, and he prospered under a coach who played in the same position.

The partnership broke up when the hooker spent most of his second season at Welford Road injured, while Cockerill was sacked, so this doubleheader is McGuigan’s first real chance to lock horns with his former mentor. He is determined that this week will end differently to the first half of the clubs’ double-header.

“Edinburgh are a very Richard Cockerill side, aren’t they?” said McGuigan. “They come really hard around the corner, they’re a very good set-piece team and very good at the breakdown. What surprised us is that they bullied us a little, so this week we need to try to bring that aggressive edge. That’ll be crucial.”

If Newcastle were on to a hiding to nothing at Murrayfield at a ground where Edinburgh remain unbeaten this season, then McGuigan says the Falcons are determined today’s encounter will be different. Kingston Park will not be as wet as Murrayfield last week, while playing at home on an artificial surface means that a fully loaded Newcastle side will try to cut loose and play a more expansive game.

With Toby Flood restored at fly-half and the prolific back three of Sinoti Sinoti, Niki Goneva and Simon Hammersley also returning, the ball will undoubtedly be moved wide at every opportunity. “This will be a very different game,” said McGuigan. “We’ll try to play the ball much more. At Murrayfield, it was so wet and windy that people didn’t really want the ball and wanted to defend because it’s easier in those conditions than it is to retain the ball. Hopefully the weather holds out so we can express ourselves because I think we’re strongest when we’ve got the ball in hand and are able to give our backs time and space.” With Newcastle having bulked up their pack and brought back captain Mark Wilson at blindside, McGuigan believes the key to beating Edinburgh will be negating their back row, which he thought was the biggest difference between the sides at Murrayfield. In particular, Hamish Watson was a constant irritant. “I thought Hamish Watson was really good,” said McGuigan. “Some of his clear-out work was exceptional, and he got in there for turnovers. You can really feel it when you get hit hard at the breakdown and their back row in general impressed me.” Newcastle remain bottom of the Premiership but have prospered in the Champions Cup, where they became only the second team to win at Toulon in Europe, and did so with a weakened team. Against Edinburgh, they have a full side and the motivation of a final in their home city. It should be quite a contest.

moved to the top of European Challenge Cup Pool Five with a 20-9 victory over

First-half tries from Lewis Boyce and Joe Marchant were enough to give them their second win and move them a point clear of their visitors.

are top of Pool Two on 13 points after they beat 23-7, while

suffered their first defeat in the competition when they went down 1714 pool to claimed a fine 13-3 win at

clash with in Romania was postponed because of heavy snow.