Deano hails Falcons’ European heroes
The director of rugby, a two-time European champion during his time in charge of Leicester, said afterwards: “We made it quite dramatic, didn’t we?
“The changing room went a little bit crazy at the end of the game but the lads won’t be having as much beer as they did last week in Toulon – it’d cost me a fortune!”
Asked about the heroic passage of play which ended with Callum Chick scoring the winner from a close range pick-and-go, Richards said: “Some teams would have just turned round and said ‘let’s put it out and take the bonus point’, but that’s not us.
“When you’re in that position you may as well go for it, and we had faith.
“The control in terms of execution was the most pleasing thing, and the consistency of refereeing was there because he allowed us to do some of the things Montpellier had been getting away with earlier on in the game. All you ask for is consistency, and to be fair to Mike Adamson he showed that.
“The boys will get a few days off now going into the Premiership Rugby Cup, and they deserve it. They’ve had a hard slog over the last eight weeks and they need that little break.”
Insisting he and his team are just enjoying the ride, the Falcons boss added: “I’ve absolutely no idea what we can achieve in Europe this season.
“We’re just little old Newcastle, aren’t we?
“That’s what we keep being told, anyway, and we’re quite happy to be the minnows of the group.
“We don’t have as many internationals or as big a budget as other teams in our group, but you can’t put a price on the togetherness and work ethic the boys have for each other. We’ll see how far it gets us at the end of the season, but we’ll just try and win the next game as we always do rather than making bold forecasts.
“It’s all about the players, they love defying the odds and we’ve given ourselves a crack. We have back-to-back games against Edinburgh in December which promise to be great occasions, but between now and then we have important games in the cup and the league, so we’re not getting ahead of ourselves.”
