Richards Frustrated By First Half Performance
Keeping a clean sheet in the second half but leaving Sixways empty-handed after shipping four tries before the break, the Director of Rugby highlighted the defensive side of the game as an area in which the club can make significant progress.
Richards said: “If we had defended in the first half like we did in the second we would probably have come away with the win. But alas, that was never going to be the case.
“Our defence in the first half was poor, and just made it too much for us to pull back in the second. Oddly enough we won the second half 3-0 and we had a few try-scoring opportunities that we didn’t take in that second half.”
The Falcons’ boss added: “At half time we said it was all about getting it right and understanding where we had gone wrong defensively. That was one-on-one tackles and some disciplinary issues such as lifting the leg in the line out five metres from their line.
“Things like that make a difference and at the moment we are doing them week in, week out unfortunately.”
Looking back on a performance which saw tries from Tom Catterick and Michael Young, Richards said: “I am frustrated more than anything because we are a far better side than that.
“There is far more to come from this team. We just haven’t got our attack sorted out yet and our defence is all over the place. Even if we got one of those right we wouldn’t have too bad a problem.
“We are a far better side than that and things will improve, but I would have liked that to have started today.”
Speaking of Saturday’s opponents, Richards added: “They are a fairly well-drilled side. We felt going into the game there were opportunities for us but we didn’t exploit them, and that comes down to our lack of patience.
“That last play of the game typified our performance; if we had kept hold of the ball throughout the game then that patience may have paid dividends, which is frustrating.
“There was some good stuff in there, though. I thought Mike Delany and Micky Young played well as a half-back pairing and the back row on the whole were good; in that respect there were areas of the team where we put a shift in.”
The Falcons now turn their attention to European rugby with their first match of the 2015/16 European Rugby Challenge Cup taking place away to Brive next weekend.
