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'They took advantage of how sloppy we were... They were all over us'
Dave Walder was delighted with Newcastle Falcons’ attitude as they edged Exeter Chiefs 24-21 at Kingston Park.
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It was a constant ding-dong battle in the first half, with George McGuigan scoring his seventh try of the season from the back of the driving maul, before Ruben van Heerden bundled over for Chiefs.
Mateo Carreras and Jack Yeandle traded scores, before Guy Pepper’s try on the cusp of half-time gave Falcons the edge.
Brett Connon’s penalty gave the home side a 24-14 lead, which proved decisive when Scott Sio dotted down and Falcons dug in to hold on for the win.
Falcons director of rugby Walder said: “It’s always nice to get a win like that to see our game plan come off.
“We’ve scored two tries this evening off the back of mauls and that is what we had been looking at.
“The tries put us into a good position and then towards the end we were able to dig in and showed a great attitude to get us over the line.
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“We spoke about a couple of areas that we needed to improve on at the interval, we felt really comfortable defensively and the only way that they got near us was through our lack of discipline.
“Guy Pepper and Carl Fearns were superb at the breakdown for us but on a couple of occasions we made poor decisions.
“You know how Exeter will play and even though we had a 10-point lead with 20 minutes to play you still feel nervous.”
Chiefs head coach Ali Hepher admitted the Falcons spirit and their control at the breakdown was the difference on the night as his side were forced to make the long journey home with a solitary point.
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He said: “Fair play to Newcastle, we knew that their spirit would be high, and they took advantage of how sloppy we were at the breakdown.
“They were all over us and even though you know that’s how they play, there’s little you can do when you are conceding penalties.
“They got into the game early and scored some early scores and as a result gained more confidence, so you have to give them full credit for that.
“We have to look at the number of penalties we gave away. You don’t mind the ones where you are fighting hard but some of them were just crazy.
“We were a bit mindless at times and that increases the error rate and so we lose any rhythm.
“We need to go away and have a look at ourselves and the individual contributions.
“Overall, it’s the basic errors that have cost us and ended up hurting us in basic areas of the game.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Vern challenging this Blues side might be the edge they need to fulfill their potential. Convincing results from strong D and strong carries are hard to argue against.
1 Go to commentsLove seems to add a strong back field defense with speed to close the gap and tackle to his ability to attack, kick and pass (an accurate long pass). This sets him an edge over some of the other names - JRK in particular. Has to be said that Jordan and Stevenson have also been exposed defensively while Love has yet to face test match intensity. Spoilt for choice.
1 Go to commentsHe’s strung together a few strong seasons, I’d like to see him in the ABs and build some depth along with Reiko and ALB. Levi Aumua hasn’t taken the step we hoped to see but time yet.
1 Go to commentsWhere has our good friend Pecos gone!? Similar place to the Crusaders D, the abyss.
4 Go to commentsNice piece Nick. I haven’t seen much of the brumbies this year so will keep my powder dry on charlie, but clearly has the speed and footwork to be damaging in space. Similar to Samu, I’d worry about the size of our pack if the likes of Mcreight and Cale were in the b/row together. Maybe Cale could play a similar finisher role like Samu did for Rennie’s wallabies. Has Cale leapfrogged wilson in your eyes? He obviously has the lineout, but harry probably better (although not great) in the physical stuff and also has great hands in the loose. You’d have to say mcreight and valetini are shoe-ins at 7/8, so the question becomes who matches best with them at 6 and on the bench. I don’t know if he has a high enough ceiling, but id love to see wright given a shot based on how much bad luck he has had with injuries. He may also fit that no-nonsense graft/work rate irish approach…? If schmidt wants size and a 4/6 tweener then I’d probably pick Uru. On the bench I’d have no idea, Wilson if you want to give valetini a rest, and maybe hanigan/wright/uru as 6 replacements.
15 Go to commentsWho the heck is Billy Fulton?
7 Go to commentsCale has all the potential no doubt. So has Harry Wilson except for his dumb arse coach over the last few years who told him just to run at brick walls all the time. Valentini would be devastating at 6. As he was until some idiot thought oh yeah, move our best player to another position. Not mentioning any flightless or thank you names of course. I very much dislike claiming one player is the saviour, because injuries are so prevalent in the game these days as the players are bigger and faster, so the discussion should be who are at least the best two players in one position. For me it’s Harry Wilson and Cale at 8 at the moment with Valentini or Hooper from the Brumbies at 6. Great options. Seru Uru should be in the reserves too. A game changer.
15 Go to commentsScott Barrett is a card waiting to happen, Cane has been out with injury as well as playing in Japan, I think they’ll go with in-Japan-but-still-the-man Savea. Samisoni Taukeaho will be Captain after 2027, so he might get some Captain minutes against an Italy or Japan.
7 Go to commentsDissapointed that after 7 years Crusaders could not have found a coach that believed their system and improved on it. What was he expecting?
6 Go to commentsPlaying the boks twice in a season is the definition of an abusive relationship…Jenny, get help
1 Go to commentsWatching the SA series no AI will motivate players like a Human can cause no matter your IP if you lack the hype to be super human or the level to go to the deep dark places you simply can’t win big games. France Ireland All Blacks and SA will surely get this AI but the end of the day it's luck and believe that matters
18 Go to commentsGet him and we need more having just watched chasing the sun series building test teams takes a lot of time and pain. We have to believe we can win the 2027 RWC. Whilst you at get Rod McQueen as Rugby Director. Is he still around?
15 Go to commentsRather AI than the disastrous and disappointing human errors of the last RWC final.
18 Go to commentsI still think Swinton is a better 6 than Valentini or Leota as he works harder in D and is a way better lineout operator. His carrying has improved out of sight over the last 12 months too. I’d be happier with: 6 - Swinton 7 - FMR 8 - Bobby V
15 Go to comments‘Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.’ - Mark Twain.
1 Go to commentsThe AI will find the 1 scenario out of 100 to win. But then so will the other teams AI do the same (to prevent it). So then it will just be 99 losses and maybe a draw? All of this is fine and dandy, but assumes that the players and coaches will be able to move flesh and bone around the training pitch and on game day to implement against whatever it was the AI scenarios predicted.
18 Go to commentsI am not so sure it will have that a big effect in the next 10 years. To have a a.i giving you extra info doesn't mean you have a team that can implement the plan. It will take years for humans to adato be able to use the a.i's data
18 Go to commentsthose graphics are cool but not very helpful when one team is black and the other is nearly-black 🤣😅
1 Go to commentsThanks Nick Cale is certainly a talented guy, and could develop quickly like Eales did. Mind you, I thought the same when Harry Wilson appeared a few years ago, notwithstanding that Wilson has only recently started lineout jumping. Somehow I think coaching has held a lot of forwards back over the last 20 years in Australia. It’s hard to put into words, but when a player has the ability to do things far better than his coach ever could or ever understand then that talent is not only not developed further, but not utilised. I’ve seen this with Timmani, Skeleton, Wilson and a host of props. Sticking with Cale, I am not convinced that he has the best coach on the planet, particularly after the Brumbies inept performance on the weekend.
15 Go to commentsHope Radwan gets picked up by a good side next year and kicks on before it's too late.
1 Go to comments