Deano finds room for improvement
The game marked the Falcons’ sixth home victory in succession and pushed them back into the top half of the Aviva Premiership table, the director of rugby still finding room for improvement.
“The measure of this squad at the moment is the fact that the boys have beaten a good side convincingly and scored a four-try bonus point, but they’re still not happy,” said the Falcons’ boss.
“In the changing room after the match they were very critical of their own performance, we conceded two soft tries and never really got out of second or third gear, and we know there is more to come.
“Had we really hit our straps then the score could have been different and we’d have been happier with the performance, but we know we can improve and we’re determined to do that.”
Having defeated the West Country side home and away in the league this term, Richards said: “We’ve done the double over Bath, we’ve won six at home in a row, but it’s not about that.
“We’re just focusing on the next game, looking to improve every time and hopefully next week at Harlequins we will put in a better overall performance.
“The boys are a little bit upset with the two tries we conceded, but at times we looked exceptionally good. It’s just that consistency of being able to do it from minute one to minute 80 which is what we aspire to do.
“We scored some outstanding tries, and Niki Goneva’s in particular was a world class finish. The others were also well executed, and we did produce some good rugby at times.
“Don’t get me wrong, we’re delighted with the result. The boys are just a little bit upset that we didn’t quite put in the performance that we wanted. Had we really let rip then who knows what might have happened, but it was still a good result and our fans really got behind the team.”
Hailing the impact of his bench men, Richards added: “Chris Harris played well but probably tired towards the end, and when Maxime Mermoz came on he also looked the part as you’d expect.
“We brought Joel Hodgson on at fly-half and moved Toby Flood to 12, and that really seemed to work, although Josh Matavesi had played very well up until that point.
“Quins are a really good side and we have selection headaches all over the place next weekend, but it’s interesting times and we’re not in bad shape.”
