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'The show must go on' - with Newcastle's players pulling the pints!
Details are emerging of the remarkable effort with which Newcastle Falcons managed to get their round eight Gallagher Premiership clash with Worcester Warriors to go ahead.
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As a result of the North East of England being battered by Storm Arwen during the course of Friday the match – which was not televised – was rearranged 24 hours later on Saturday evening.
Unusually it went ahead without the presence of a TMO, since the impact of the storm meant on-site production trucks were no longer available to provide replays.
But it was the Herculean effort with which the club provided 3376 hardy souls with a live game to enjoy that really captured the imagination of the rugby-watching public.
This included a number of the playing squad who were not involved in the matchday group volunteering to serve behind Kingston Park’s bars.
Players serving on the bar. What a club this is! pic.twitter.com/GHJDoluZ8S
— Newcastle Falcons (@FalconsRugby) November 27, 2021
“It was all very last minute but the lads enjoyed it,” club captain Mark Wilson said.
“About 15 of us came down and got stuck in behind the bar – we had mixed abilities but it was good fun.
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“Service wasn’t the fastest but we didn’t get too many complaints and it was good to have some craic with the supporters who came along.
“Because of the weather we were down to something like 30 per cent of the normal bar staff.
“Not many of the lads had worked in a bar before so it was good to see and I’m sure the supporters appreciated it.”
? The best club, bar none! ?
Newcastle Falcons players were pulling pints on Saturday when staff shortages caused by Storm Arwen threatened to leave their supporters thirsty.
Club captain Mark Wilson explains! pic.twitter.com/yxeRthI0Rk
— Newcastle Falcons (@FalconsRugby) November 29, 2021
This opinion was endorsed by Falcons’ fans on Twitter, one of whom commented: “Amazing effort to get the game on, and I was served a pint by an an England international and an Argentina international. Took 10 minutes to get served cos we were taking selfies!”
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Sadly Newcastle’s tremendous club spirit did not have an entirely happy ending since Worcester battled their way to a 24-all draw, but despite this director of rugby Dean Richards paid a fulsome tribute to everyone involved in preventing a further postponement.
“Full credit to the grounds staff and maintenance team because they were here from 6am or even earlier, working in horrific conditions to get the game on,” he said.
“They’ve worked tirelessly for two days to give us a game, and the whole club’s staff have chipped in as they always do. We could quite easily have had a cancellation with the way the weather was, but it was a massive effort from the staff here and also the supporters who braved the elements to come and cheer us on.
“The players not involved in the game came in and worked behind the bars due to the staff shortages caused by the re-arrangement, and we’re a tight-knit club.
“I think that’s why everyone’s doubly disappointed with not winning, because they know what an effort has been made to get the thing played.
“A group of professional rugby players were asked if they’d be willing to come in and work on the bars, and they had every right to tell us to get lost. But they didn’t, because they’re not like that. They came along and chipped in, and I think that speaks volumes for their character and the ethos we have here.”
?CHEERS!?
It’s a club-wide effort to get today’s game on at 6pm, and due to staffing shortages our players will be serving on the West Stand concourse bars from 4.30pm. A top effort, lads! https://t.co/WZTwTBGItE pic.twitter.com/4uBctqVQzU
— Newcastle Falcons (@FalconsRugby) November 27, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
29 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
1 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 Crusades , you can keep going.
1 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!😭😭😭 !!!
29 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
29 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.
29 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 commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
29 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
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