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Six Nations 2026 Awards - and our Team of the Tournament
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Alan Dickens all too aware of Newcastle's 'well-documented' flaws
By Neil Fissler
Newcastle Red Bulls boss Alan Dickens is confident that their first win is only around the corner, which will give his side a much-needed confidence boost and provide a platform to build a winning mentality.
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The Red Bulls have lost both of their opening two games of the PREM Rugby campaign against Saracens and Exeter Chiefs, and travel to Sale Sharks on Friday night looking for their first points of the campaign.
Dickens was put in charge of team affairs last week following the shock sacking of Steve Diamond, and his first game in charge was their 38-15 defeat at Sandy Park.
He admits that some honest conversations between the players were had on Monday morning when the players returned to Kingston Park for a debrief following their day off on Sunday, and he expects to see results.
“When you go to tough places, it’s got to be the players that lead it. This week, they have stood up and were pretty honest with themselves in the debrief and are looking to put a lot of things right, really.
“We have been working all summer. We are frustrated that it’s not clicked just yet, a lot of things have gone wrong, and it’s been well-documented about the line-out.
“Already, the coaches, including myself, Micky Ward, Scott McLeod, and Lee Dickson, have implemented what we want to see, and that started in July. Hopefully, this can come to fruition over the next couple of weeks.
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“I look back on last season, and those wins at home against Exeter and Saracens were fantastic, and what we needed to do there was kick on. So we need a game that we need to win.
“Then, off the back of that, we need to kick on because certainly after Christmas, we didn’t perform as well as we should have done,” said Dickens.
