'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
Ireland are only the People’s Champions in Irish eyes. The rest of the world do not care for them very much because of attitudes of people like Gordon, Ferris, Best, Jackman…I could go on!!
3 Go to commentsNot sure how Karl Dickson can ever ref a Quins game, he played for the club for 8 years as understudy to Care and is still close friends with half the team
3 Go to commentsAre bookies taking bets on how many times Vunipola's eventual statement will use the term “elders"? My money is on at least 4 times.
4 Go to commentsSo Ireland will be tired, despite having the most rested test squad in the world. They only play tests, champions cup and urc play off games ffs! Case in point; Leinster sent a B squad to SA for their last two games while their first xv rested up and trained at their leisure for the sf vs Saints at the so called ‘neutral venue’ of Croke Park. So tired? Do me a favour… And as for “people’s champions”? Seriously??? Outside of Ireland they are respected for their ability to win 6N. And of course plenty of inconsequential test friendlies without any real pressure. WC ko games when the pressure is white hot? Not so much…
3 Go to commentsSurprising how standing down or benching a player can do wonders for their motivation. Several players this week in that category.
1 Go to commentsHaha lads lads lads, that’s how you have a holiday In Majorca
4 Go to commentshit on Lynagh was defo late and card-worthy. The other 2 are bang on OK. Hurts you at Test level if youre timing is off and the nostrils are flared. Jerry C knew when to lean in on one, Finau just needs to keep his discipline and head straight.
5 Go to commentsSlade was exceptional against Gloucester. Not only was he doing the classic Slade stuff of running amazing lines and timing passes to perfection to put his wingers into space, he was kicking goals, flying off the line smashing people and crashing into rucks like a flanker… his hair even looked on point. 😍
1 Go to commentsThat’s really sad, hope everyone involved is ok. At least he had pants on.
4 Go to commentsTo be fair it was nowhere bear the Leinster first team (for which, btw, Leinster copped nothing like the outrage that Jake White did for sending a rotated team to the UK). But it’s fun to watch the Stormers doing their thing. They are attracting big, diverse crowds of young fans, and deservedly so. Great to see.
1 Go to commentsIt might be legal but he’s sailing pretty close to the wind. Not a lot needs to go wrong for Finau to end up in the bin. Was it late? Not quite, but borderline. High? A couple of CM within the laws, no room for error with that one. Did he wrap the arms? There was a token effort to wrap one arm, the intent was clearly to hit with the shoulder. So yeah, it’s legal, just. But as we all know, a very slight change in the dynamics could easily have him seeing red. Hopefully not when it really matters.
5 Go to commentsCan we also show some love for Tane Edmed’s fantastic draw and pass? Put his body on the line and committed the defender before letting go of that pass. Flawless skill.
5 Go to commentsYou forget this is Rassie Erasmus who is still holding the Springbok keys. Even with Felix Jones orchestrating a really tight RWC SF last year. It still wasn't enough to get England past their particular Springbok Monkey in world cups. The reason is FJ was going off of what they did in 2019 not necessarily adapting to current Springboks. So yes, Australia can get passed England because let's be honest, England have a one track strategy, Springboks do not. Even with rush defense I wouldn't be surprised if Rassie continually tweaks it. Also bear in mind Rassie is happy to sacrifice a few mid year and inter World Cup matches to pin point how opposition plays and how to again tweak strategies to get his Springboks in peak performance for the next World Cup. As much as most teams like to win games in front of them and try to win everything, Rassie always makes sure to learn and train for the greatest showdown International Rugby has to offer. Tbh, most people remember World Cup wins and ignore intermediate losses as a result but will remember also WC losses, Ireland, even if they won games in the interim. So even if games are won against the Springboks, it's likely Rassie is just getting a feel for how opposition is moving and adapt accordingly…in time. For Rassie, a loss is never a loss because he uses it as a chance to learn and improve. Sometimes during a game, again like the England match in last year's Semi Final.
7 Go to commentsDanny don't care. He pretends to care but he don't. He says all this stuff to justify his reasoning but no one can claim that legitimately. He knew exactly what he was doing and wondered if his old team mate would overlook it, which he did. Ref has got to be sidelined or properly trained. It's one thing for refs to move up the ranks but if it was me I would require refs to either have played in different clubs or not at all having the temptation to bias in high stakes games like this. This has got to be stamped out. But then again World Rugby is so destroying the game of rugby in an attempt to be more “safe” and “concussion free”. What they are doing is making it more infuriating for the fans and more difficult for the refs to officiate evenly and consistently. It's fast become Australian Rules football. If guys don't want concussions, they should have played chess. Stop complaining you oldies of the game. When they played the game was vastly heavier hitting than it is now but of course they can't see that.
3 Go to commentsJa, why do Bulls get flack for not bringing their best but Leinster never bring their best and it goes “unnoticed”?
4 Go to commentsIt’ll be very interesting to see how Razor’s AB’s handle the new England rush D. It’s basically the Bok recipe they copied, so if England goes well then we know most likely the Boks will go well too. If England cops a hiding then we’ll have to study and adapt.
7 Go to commentsTypical trait of an australian is to moan. Goes well with there lack of humbleness as evident by the Reds bench on the weekend.
5 Go to commentsSBW’s bro’town commentary and lazy default to hyperbole should be ignored, a technical analyst he is not. Sotutu is a good player when games get goosey loosey, high skill set that fans of Zinzan recall with starry eyes. But you need power and mongrel at no8 in the Test arena and Sotutu gets found wanting there, much like Akira Ioane. No8’s like Zinzan and Ardie have bucketloads of mongrel and power and tenacity which allow the skill sets to flourish.
12 Go to commentsAn inside pass to attacker on the angle can make a drift defence look lead footed. Relies on fleet footed forward/s to get across from the breakdown. An argument for the smaller faster 7 perhaps?
7 Go to commentsSensational tackle. The reds one was late and rightly penalised. The other two were simultaneous with the pass. If nitpicking TMOs can’t find fault there clearly isn’t any.
5 Go to comments