Greg Goosen has revealed to Falcons TV how delighted he is to be back to full fitness after a month on the sideline with a knee injury.
The South African full-back, 28, played the full 80 minutes of Saturday’s LV= Cup clash at Leicester Tigers, his first outing since the Aviva Premiership match at home to Exeter Chiefs in January.
Explaining his injury, Goosen told Falcons TV: “I had a bit of swelling on the back of my knee which took quite a while to clear-up but it has pretty much all gone now and I am happy to be back.
“It was really nice to get back on the field after a month out and there is a lot of competition for places now. All of the boys are keen to kick-on now so I was very happy to get a game at the weekend.”
It was Goosen’s first game under the new coaching set-up of Gary Gold, Mike Ford and John Wells with the Falcons No.15 hailing the appointments.
He said: “We could not have a better coaching team with the amount of experience that they each have and they have been a huge boost for the boys.
“They have a lot of belief in the systems that they have put into place and they have simplified everything – playing the game as simple as possible so that everyone is on the right page and everyone knows their roles.”
The northeasterners rounded off their LV= Cup campaign with a comprehensive 37-7 victory over Sale Sharks followed by a 24-13 loss at Leicester.
“We had a good result against Sale and then against Leicester we let ourselves down in a couple of key areas that we need to work on this week going into the Bath game,” said Goosen who has crossed the whitewash five times this term.
He added: “Leicester are a great side and it is a tough place to go but at the end of the day we will take a lot of confidence out of the game.”
Going 13-0 down after just 15 minutes of the game, Gold’s rejuvenated outfit held it together to claw themselves back into the game by virtue of a Jimmy Gopperth try coupled with a series of penalties.
“A few weeks ago we might have buckled but we have worked on a lot of things recently, particularly our defence,” said Goosen.
“We have a bit more structure in what we are doing in that department. There is a lot of belief and confidence amongst the boys and the addition of the new coaches has given us a whole new dimension to our game,” he added.
This weekend sees the return of Aviva Premiership rugby with the Falcons taking on Bath at the Rec (kick-off 2.15pm).
Victory for Gold’s men would really crank up the pressure on the teams above Newcastle in the race to secure the club’s top-flight status.
“All of the boys are definitely up for the game and we have a lot of confidence and belief in what we are doing so it is a nice opportunity to get out there and give it our best shot.
“I have never played at the Rec before – Bath are a very competitive side and despite results not going their way in recent months they have had a good couple of wins of late so they will be going into this weekend’s game with a lot of confidence.”
To watch the full interview with Goosen on Falcons TV please click here. Tickets are available for the Falcons next home match against London Irish on Saturday 18 February by calling the Falcons Ticket Hotline on 0871 226 6060 or click here to purchase online.
