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Wales' openside Reffell now 'one of the best sevens in the world'
Leicester’s head coach Dan McKellar praised his side’s accuracy in overcoming extremely difficult conditions to record a bonus-point 47-3 Gallagher Premiership win over bottom club Newcastle.
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It was Falcons eighth consecutive defeat and they remain winless having just picked up four league points to remain eight points behind ninth-placed Gloucester.
Wales flanker Tommy Reffell was Tigers’ hero with a hat-trick of tries.
Matt Scott, Jasper Wiese, Ollie Hassell-Collins and Mike Brown were also on the try-scoring sheet, with Handre Pollard kicking four conversions and Jamie Shillcock two.
A penalty from Brett Connon was Newcastle’s sole response.
McKellar said: “It was tough conditions for the boys out there and indeed for the supporters.
“It was a good day at the office but the boys certainly had to dig in hard to defend their line.
“In the conditions, we didn’t really want the ball but Newcastle have scored a lot of points in their games so keeping them out today was impressive as our defence is a real weapon for us.
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“Another plus was that we were able to empty our bench quite early and so able to give the likes of Tom Whiteley and Jamie Shillcock valuable game time.
“It was a slow start to the season with results not going our way but slowly but surely we are building momentum.”
Reffell won the man of the match award to draw praise from McKellar.
He added: “Since he has come back from the World Cup, he has been outstanding and is challenging himself to be one of the best number sevens in the world.
“If he continues to progress, there is no doubt that he is likely to achieve that.”
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It was another miserable day at the office for Newcastle, who despite a spirited performance lacked the attacking flair to trouble their opponents in conditions that clearly didn’t suit them.
They did have periods of sustained pressure but never looked like capitalising and were given a lesson by Tigers in how to take chances.
Newcastle’s head coach Alex Codling said: “They had a very strong side with 14 internationals out there and they do the basics very well.
“I can’t fault our efforts but it was a tough watch and the final score was hard to take.
“When we lose momentum, we can’t seem to get it back but the conditions really suited them today.
“They are so strong around the area of ruck and maul so we lost the arm-wrestle and it was clearly a one-sided game.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Big empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
2 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
34 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
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