Newcastle Falcons suffer triple injury and address Callum Chick rumours

Newcastle Falcons, desperate to erase the memory of a winless Gallagher Premiership campaign last season, have suffered a triple injury blow in the build-up to their opening clash with Bristol Bears at Kingston Park on Friday night.

The most serious injury has been suffered by Eduardo Bello while on international duty with Argentina in the Rugby Championship with the tight head prop facing knee reconstruction surgery in Buenos Aires and a six-month layoff from the sport. Steve Diamond, the Falcons director of rugby, is launching a search for injury cover for Bello and admits finding a “six foot tall, six foot deep and six foot wide” replacement for the Pumas strong man will be difficult.

Former Sale flanker Cameron Neild broke an arm in the recent pre-season clash with the Sharks and is out for three months while outside half Kieran Wilkinson, who has joined from Leicester Tigers, is facing an eight-week period on the sidelines after a knee injury in the same game.

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With Diamond reducing the size of his first-team squad, the loss of three players is a major blow but in typically bullish style, he is adamant the Falcons will be highly competitive against the Bears and every other team that visits the North East. Diamond said: “Bello has ruptured his ACL and we will be looking for cover and although we have four good props and two good young lads we are out in the marketplace at the moment.

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“He was playing well for Argentina and had an outstanding game against New Zealand and he is gutted with the surgery going ahead over there and then he will be with his family for a month and return here for the rehab and I reckon it will take six months. Cameron Neild broke his arm and Kieran Wilkinson did his MCL and is out for two months and the way I look at it is if you get the injuries in games then you cannot legislate for it. We went into the Sale game last week with everyone fit except for Seb de Chaves and to take those injuries was hard.”

Falcons have the chance to avenge their debilitating 13 try 85-14 loss to Bristol last April and Diamond is confident his defensive system allied to the technical work of coaches Alan Dickens and Micky Ward can end the team’s search for a league victory. He added: “We have a different mindset in the building and Alan has made a big difference and we will be highly competitive – I have no doubt about that.”

Diamond also addressed the RugbyPass report that captain Callum Chick is on Gloucester’s radar to replace No.8 Zach Mercer if the England international returns to France at the end of the season. “Callum is a very good player and there will be more than one club looking at him but he is the captain of the club and is man and boy Newcastle.

“If he was thinking that way at this stage of the season I would be very surprised. It is good to think other clubs are looking at you thinking you have good players like Bath and Saracens have done with our youngsters.”