'If we go down, our nearest club is in Manchester... that's three hours on a train, a long way to go to watch Premiership rugby'
It was on a train last week to Manchester to see a specialist when it fully dawned on Toby Flood that the ramifications will be stark for England’s professional rugby landscape if Newcastle Falcons finish this season relegated to the Championship.
“It’s really important for us to be a part of the Premiership because of the knock-on effect,” said Flood to RugbyPass. “With Leeds no longer involved, our nearest club is in Manchester. I went down there to see a specialist last week and that is three hours on a train. It’s a long way to go if you want to watch high-class rugby, so to be in the Premiership is really important for the north-east.”
The surge in the sport’s popularity in the region isn’t lost on the 33-year-old rugby veteran who left Newcastle in 2008 to seek his fame and fortune with Leicester and Toulouse before returning home in summer 2017.
Rugby World Cup 2015 had boosted the game’s profile by staging matches at St James’ Park, a trend that Falcons have mirrored by annually playing a Gallagher Premiership game at the football mecca which is also due to play host to next month’s Champions Cup final between Leinster and Saracens along with an England Test match prior to the World Cup in Japan.
Those glamour fixtures are testament to the growing appetite for top-class rugby, but the north-east is now threatened with losing its fortnightly Premiership show window and stalling progress. That’s a worry for Flood.
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“Rugby has absolutely got bigger and that is one of the best thing ever to happen. The players here have put the club on the map and rugby is growing. Being an outpost up north, it’s really important to keep pushing rugby because it’s something that sits behind football and it forever will because of St James’ Park and what it means to football people.
“But we have a really impressive community department that works incredibly hard to push the rugby message and that’s really important. We have contacts with local clubs and they work incredibly hard to get it out there because they understand the impact of them making a positive message, of getting two or three kids really interested in rugby which brings their family into coming to a game.
What. A. Finish.
Leicester hold firm and claim a MASSIVE result at Newcastle.
The Tigers live to fight another day! pic.twitter.com/2EP7aCyzoK
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) April 12, 2019
“They are the little incremental gains that have a huge impact in terms of what we do, but if we drop down you will have to go all the way south to Manchester (to see the Premiership) and that is a huge gap.”
Flood’s awareness of the wider implications of relegation isn’t reflected in his thoughts on what the future might personally hold for him if Newcastle go down. Keeping upbeat about their three remaining games – a schedule that begins with Friday night’s visit to Kingston Park by Northampton – is the immediate priority.
“I don’t have any intention of changing and doing anything different. At this moment in time, to be honest I haven’t really thought about it because I’m not really letting it cross my mind. We will cross that bridge when it comes to it but because I’m hoping we will stay up, I’m going to try and keep myself in the realm of positivity and stay with the club as long as I can.
“Guys who are involved internationally, they may have to make a tough decision but personally I have not got that far ahead yet. I just want to crack on, keep my head down and see where we get to. There’s still a chance (to avoid relegation) and when there is hope you endeavour to get it right.”
This was something Falcons fell agonisingly short of achieving in their last outing, a devastating home loss to relegation rivals Leicester which enabled Tigers to pull eight points clear of Newcastle at the bottom, with Worcester sandwiched in between seven points ahead of 12th spot.
In his 15th season in the professional ranks, you’d imagine Flood is somewhat accustomed to handling the emotions of losing matches. However, the April 12 loss to his former club Leicester cut to the bone, a feeling exacerbated by his pocket being picked for a crucial try in a contest that grippingly went down to the wire.
Gameweek 1️⃣9️⃣ in the books, 3️⃣ rounds remaining. Here's how the table looks.
What are your predictions for:
▪️ Top Four?
▪️ Relegation? pic.twitter.com/NpEhDndgVu— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) April 14, 2019
“That’s probably one of the worst,” he grimaced. “Just in terms of what it meant and how it went. It was a tough one. Personally and collectively we just couldn’t get it right and then when we did and got ourselves back in the game, we took ourselves out again, myself throwing an interception and other guys just making small errors.
“It was as frustrating as it can be and then it was made worse by Worcester winning (against Sale). No bones about it, we’re in a difficult situation at the moment and the only way to solve it is ourselves putting pressure on those teams above us. That’s basically what we have to do.”
If Newcastle are to fall through the cracks, it will be with regret. Having finished fourth last season, they weren’t expecting to find themselves in this sort of a pickle. However, it’s been their rotten luck to fall off the pace in an exceptionally competitive season.
There is every chance that even if they pick up a few wins during a run-in where they hope to add to their current 30 points, they could still go down in a fashion as frustrating as 2005 when Harlequins were chucked out despite a seemingly healthy tally of 38 points.
“It’s going to be very tight to that,” said Flood. “We’re talking about Wasps being in fifth and they are only three wins above us. They have more bonus points, so they have a bigger gap, but in essence it’s three victories.
“Then you look at the fixtures. Leicester we could have won. Wasps at home we should have won. Bristol away we were very close. Even Exeter at home we played really well. You look at those results and realise how tight the Premiership is.
“Last year we won those tight games and ended up fourth, and this year we just haven’t been able to get over the line in those games. It just feels you can’t snatch those victories you were snatching last year and that plays on the mental side of things,” continued the former England out-half who has an interesting take on the whole ring-fence the Premiership debate.
Round 20 Preview: @FalconsRugby v @SaintsRugby #GallagherPrem https://t.co/wiR9PuyUvI pic.twitter.com/MBPzCdOf5D
— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) April 23, 2019
“Ring-fencing, I have been a fan in the sense that it’s important for people who want to have an investment in a large organisation, an organisation that we all know loses money as there are very few profitable organisations in this league.
“But if you are going to ring-fence, you need to protect those teams below you. You need to review maybe every two to three years, look at it and say, ‘Hold on a minute, do we need to bring someone else up? Does someone else want to come up? Does a team at the bottom of the league for three years in a row need to be taken out of it?’
“You need to be very careful with ring-fencing being a closed book as you have to protect those teams below who want to come up and change it. But having spoken to quite a few directors of rugby and bits and pieces through my career, some teams are very happy in the Championship, some teams are very happy in National One.
“I know for instance the teams where I started, Morpeth and Alnwick, they’re very happy in the league they are normally in because if they get promoted or relegated, they either win every game if they get relegated or they lose every game if they get promoted. They quite like being in North-East Two or whatever it is because they will win some of their games, lost some of their games and it’s very competitive.”
A thriving grassroots is something that is important to Flood, who was one of Newcastle’s ambassadors at their Gallagher Premiership Train with your Heroes session with the Darlington Mowden Park under-18 girls. It brought the seasoned out-half right back to his own fledgling rugby days, training on the back pitch at Kingston Park as a nipper and memories of Jonny Wilkinson walking in the door of his school one afternoon.
Amazing to be at Kingston Park, the home of @FalconsRugby, after @MowdenPark Ladies U18s won our #TrainWithYourHeroes competition. Session led by #GallagherPrem stars @tobyflood, @mark_wils and captain, Will Welch pic.twitter.com/kvXsmHBDu5
— Gallagher UK (@GallagherUK) April 18, 2019
“I remember coming here and training on the back pitch with Dave Walder and Michael Stephenson when I was a kid. That was really good fun to do training sessions with those guys. Then Jonny Wilkinson, I remember he came to our school.
“The Falcons would send a player to a school and we somehow got Jonny. He came down and did two or three sessions. The impact of that was massive. To see him when he was at the peak of his powers at 21, 22, lighting up the world, that was hugely important.
“Likewise, with Dave and Michael, who were top players as well. You realise the impact of that and as adults now at 33, 34, we sometimes still talk about that. It’s important to still have memories of that time.”
Comments on RugbyPass
I like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
8 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
8 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
8 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
8 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
1 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
3 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to comments