Dean Richards reacts to London Irish loss
The Exiles scored a pair of first-half tries when Sean Robinson was in the sin bin, Richards saying afterwards: “They scored twice in the period of our first yellow card which gave them that lead, but we came back to 28-14 at half-time and gave ourselves a shout.
“It’s amazing how much a yellow card costs you – they say two tries is about average, and that’s how it turned out tonight.
“We clawed one back just before half-time and then came out with ten minutes of good pressure at the start of the second half, but we couldn’t convert it into points.”
Crediting a ruthless Exiles side on a night when they scored six converted tries to Newcastle’s two, Richards said: “To be fair to Irish, you look down their team sheet and they’ve got a hell of a side.
“It gives you a measure of their quality when they have guys like Creevy, Simmons, Coleman, Mafi and guys like that up front, and then Paddy Jackson at fly-half was outstanding.
“Our boys stuck at it, and it just became a little bit fragmented at the end with the way Irish play.
“Credit to them, they took their chances, and they’re a good side.
“We missed a lot of opportunities to score tries, but it’s just having the discipline to execute them in the heat of battle.
“We just didn’t make it happen tonight, and that was the story of the game.”
Travelling to the AJ Bell Stadium for their next assignment, Richards said: “We have Sale Sharks away next Friday – another tough game – and they’re a well-drilled side.
“It will be a totally different style of game to this evening’s, and we have to get ready for that.”
Newcastle Falcons captain Will Welch shared Richards’ disappointment at Friday’s home defeat, admitting: “It just wasn’t good enough.
“They were better than us in every area, we’re just not accurate enough at the moment and we’re obviously looking hard at the reasons why.
“We’ve blown hot and cold this season, both from game to game and within the matches themselves, and you obviously can’t do that against a quality side like Irish.”
Newcastle Falcons’ next home game is against Leicester Tigers on Saturday May 21. [**Click here**][1] to buy your tickets.
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