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Newcastle suffer catalogue of 'severe' lower limb injuries following 8-month lay-off
Dean Richards has admitted that his Newcastle players will be at a “massive disadvantage” against their fellow Gallagher Premiership teams when the new 2020/21 season kicks off with a trip to Bath on November 21. When the Falcons players run out at Bath it will be 253 days since their last competitive fixture in the Championship.
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That 41-0 win over Bedford took place on March 13 and Richards’ unbeaten side were eventually handed the title and given promotion to the Premiership despite the season not being finished.
Having since been furloughed, the Falcons players are now back in full training and two warm-up games with Ealing Trailfinders have at least allowed Richards and his squad to experience the new breakdown scenario.
Newcastle boss Richards said: “It’s a massive disadvantage and the other Premiership teams will be match hardened. We haven’t played a league match for over 250 days and it will take us a few games to get used to.
“It’s been a long time and you have to take your hat off to the players who have been incredibly patient. It has been really hard and everybody has sat there at some stage and thought ‘when is it going to stop?’ You have to come to terms with it and it has started to become the norm now.
REACTION: Director of rugby Dean Richards insisted Saturday’s 38-17 loss at Ealing was a good one to get out of the way as both sides blew away the cobwebs following eight months without a game https://t.co/mkGyshll7z pic.twitter.com/VsH9uNcHjn
— Newcastle Falcons (@FalconsRugby) November 7, 2020
“The first three or four months the boys were wondering when it was all going to end and was there light at the end of the tunnel? It has been hard work. At the start, we didn’t do anything being in lockdown and furloughed, so when we came in on a part-time basis understanding what physical shape the players were in was quite difficult.
“We have had a number of lower limb injuries and we did research. A lot of football clubs have the same thing. It all comes down to de-conditioning and the beauty for the Premiership clubs is they were back in pretty quickly and started playing.
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“For us, it meant we were six to eight weeks behind and it has been a long haul. We have had to tread very carefully and it has been a long off-season and a tentative return to being with and then building up from there. Mark Wilson pulled his hamstring while with England and won’t be out much longer and some of the boys have had quite severe tears – six or seven weeks. The impact can be significant when you are preparing for the new season.”
Newcastle are viewed as one of the clubs that could face significant financial problems if crowds do not return in the New Year to boost revenue. Richards added: “There is no sign of this abating until at least March and everyone will be concerned. It’s about working out the best way to get to the other side. We have to make sure that at the end of this season we are there for the next one.”
BREAKING https://t.co/xnHzYTl0O9
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 13, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
The 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?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 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!
3 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 …
30 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.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to comments