Match-winner Hodgson shares the credit
The replacement fly-half sent 7,738 supporters wild in clinching a 16-14 triumph at Kingston Park Stadium, the Aviva Premiership victory coming on the back of a dominant late scrum.
Hodgson said: “It’s nice to be on the other end of the script after my miss against Leicester earlier in the season!
“You get all the credit when you’re the kicker, but that one was won by the boys in the front row with that huge scrum at the end. Massive shout-out to those lads, they dug deep and provided exactly what we wanted against a very experienced Gloucester three. That win goes down to the front row, definitely.”
Asked what was going through his head during the key moment, the Newcastle native said: “I wasn’t thinking of much, to be honest. I felt like I was hitting it quite well in the warm-up, I had two little kicks before it and I felt the connection was good, so it was just about repetition of action and backing my technique.
“Gloucester came and put us under serious amounts of pressure. We made a few chances but the final pass let us down, and it was a frustrating game because we played decent shape without really finishing it off. It’s small steps and we’ll take the win, but we know it was far from perfect. We’re getting there slowly, but at least we’re going in the right direction.
“We had a great balance of playing out the back and taking them down the middle, and I thought Juan and Charris did really well in the centres in terms of their control. There are times we could have thrown it but our wingers would have got man and ball, and our decision-making of when to give it was pretty good.”
With Champions Cup rugby still a possibility, he added: “Massively, we’ve still got loads to play for. We’re delighted with this win and it keeps us in the hunt, but come Monday we’re getting our heads down for a huge three games. We’ll build into next Saturday’s game at Leicester.”
Newcastle Falcons’ next home game is against Worcester Warriors on Friday April 28. For tickets [**click here**][1] or call 0871 226 6060.
[1]: https://www.eticketing.co.uk/newcastle-falcons/details/event.aspx?itemref=2951
