Bobby Braced To Face Tigers
Bobby Vickers and Alex Tait were both part of the Falcons side which overcame the Tigers 14-10 at home back in 2009.
It’s a feeling Vickers remembers well and one that he’s hoping to experience again in the Kingston Park dressing room this weekend.
“I hope we can do it again this weekend because the last win over Tigers was a great day.
“We had a good home performance against Wasps and all the lads love playing at Kingston Park anyway, but this weekend I know the team behind the scenes have done a great job on the marketing and with the #LetsfillKP so all the lads are really looking forward to playing.
“We’ll be looking to put a great performance in, similar to what we did against Wasps, and hopefully we’ll give that little bit more just to get us over the line.”
Vickers may well recall the Falcons’ famous victory, but with a number of less memorable results against the Tigers behind him, he and his team mates are under no illusion of the challenge they face on Sunday.
“With Leicester you’ve always got a very well drilled team; set pieces are crucial for them and they love that scrum and driving line out and the physicality of the game. The background of Dean and Wellsy being from Leicester promotes that with us as well and obviously last weekend we scored two good driving line out tries.
“That said we’ve still got some really exciting backs; within our squad you’ve got the power of Alex Tuilagi with his pace and the dancing feet of Sinoti on the other side. Then some of the other guys like Taity are playing tremendous rugby at the moment bringing pace and power and everything to the game so we’ve got a good balance.”
Amidst a season that has seen Falcons’ crowds rise by over 19% on average, the club is on course for its biggest crowd of the season to date this Sunday and for Vickers, it’s a welcome return to the days of big crowds at Kingston Park Stadium.
“Larger crowds make a huge difference and the noise on the field is brilliant. Because of the way we come out of the East Stand you come out looking into that West Stand that’s full, and you take a moment to think ‘wow, today’s the day’.
“The West Stand’s been full before but if we’re filling those ends up too that makes all the difference. The South Stand are always vocal, that’s the nature of them down there and they’re a wonderful group. The thing about the North East fans is that they all seem so well informed and understand what’s going on in the game, and hopefully understand why we’re trying to play the way we are.”
The Aviva Premiership game against Leicester Tigers kicks off this Sunday, 8th March at 3pm. Tickets for the game are still available to buy [online][1], in person from the Kingston Park Box Office or by calling the club’s 24 hour Ticket Hotline on 0871 226 6060, starting from £15 for adults and £7.50 for juniors.
Anyone purchasing a ticket for Sunday’s game will also be able to stay at Kingston Park Stadium to watch the second game of the day as England Under 18s take on Scotland Under 18s at 5.30pm.
[1]: http://www.newcastlefalcons.co.uk/Pages/Tickets/info
