POWELL RELISHING TIGERS TEST
The 26-year-old centre was victorious on four occasions at Leicester with former club Saracens before making the switch to Newcastle Falcons towards the end of last term.
And Powell insists last season’s marathon promotion push was all about playing in fixtures like this weekend.
“No disrespect to the likes of Jersey, Moseley and Doncaster, but after playing at clubs like that last year it’s nice to be back playing the best teams at the best grounds,” said the Essex-born hit-man.
“Playing against the likes of Leicester Tigers is why we were striving for promotion last year, and I’m sure the boys can’t wait to get out there on Saturday and put in a good showing.
“As expected it will be a tough game and in the Premiership it’s about winning that physical battle, and if you win that you can grow as a team. If you lose it, then the terms of the game are dictated to you by the opposition,” he added.
Powell comes into this weekend’s contest on the back of playing in last week’s narrow 15-14 triumph over Sale Sharks at the AJ Bell Stadium.
A performance built on a steely defence and solid scrummaging earned the spoils for the northeasterners in turgid conditions.
Powell said: “It was a good win, especially after the Bath game which wasn’t the start that we had in mind particularly at home.
“The boys knew that the Sale game was winnable providing that we stuck to the things that we knew that we could do, and I think what you saw was everyone digging in and performing as a team.
“We were very composed last week and the forwards did superbly in the scrums.”
You can follow live score updates of the game via the Falcons’ official Twitter feed @FalconsRugby or listen to live match commentary on BBC Radio Newcastle.
