'Nervous is the wrong word': Geoff Parling reacts to Leicester win

Head coach Geoff Parling felt Leicester’s 39-15 triumph at Newcastle Red Bulls was testament to the squad depth of the Tigers.

Parling, back at the club where he launched his stellar career, saw his team run in five tries and concede only two to move up to fourth in the Gallagher Prem.

Argentina back-row forward Joaquin Moro led the way with two tries, with James Thompson, Freddie Steward and Tommy Reffell also touching down.

It was Parling’s fourth victory since taking charge at Welford Road this summer from Michael Cheika and his biggest winning margin yet, and was achieved with a squad missing a number of key players in the first weekend back after the Autumn Internationals.

“Nervous is the wrong word, but this was a fixture I knew I had to approach with care,” said Parling. “We were missing a lot of guys.

“There was a lot of disruption to our squad compared to Newcastle, who came into the game off the back of a win at Northampton Saints [in the Prem Cup] and signing Tom Christie.

“We showed our squad depth. This was an important win.”

Leicester were never behind but having led 17-10 at the interval, they had to survive a few nervy moments early in the second period when the winless Red Bulls belied their basement status with some dangerous attacking play.

“I always felt we could go and take the game but it wasn’t just going to happen, we had to make it happen,” said Parling.

“We had to be more accurate with what we were doing and when we did that I thought we were comfortable.”

A sixth straight defeat means Newcastle have now gone a calendar year without a victory in the Gallagher Prem.

But a third consecutive 10,000-plus attendance at Kingston Park, allied to the Red Bull takeover, continues to give hope to Newcastle head coach Alan Dickens that there are happier times ahead for the Geordies, who have finished bottom of the pile in England three seasons in a row.

“Since I’ve been at Newcastle, the support has been brilliant,” he said.

“They have been through a tough, tough period the last four or five years.

“Last season they turned out week in, week out and since the new Red Bull ownership it’s been absolutely fantastic. Hopefully, we can start to get the results on the pitch.”

The Red Bulls scored through full-back Ethan Grayson in the first half and substitute forward Richard Palframan late on but remain pointless this season.

Dickens said: “I thanked the players for their efforts – there were a lot of positives, we created chances, but we’ve got to be clinical.

“We are disappointed that we’ve got to 60 minutes at Kingston Park still in it only for the opposition to pull away from us.”