RICHARDS HAILS CLINICAL FINISHING
The Falcons boss watched on as his charges ran in seven tries to make it five wins out of five, and move six points clear at the top of the RFU Championship table.
“We put ourselves in a good position going into half-time, and we were clinical in the second-half, and I thought our finishing was excellent,” said Richards, who now prepares his troops for next week’s trip to Moseley.
“We scored two tries in the first-half and then the floodgates opened up in the second-half – the conditions were perfect for playing rugby.
“The pitch was in good condition and that’s largely down to Bob Chapman and Mark Hufton who put the work in,” added Richards.
Going into the break 17-3 in front, the northeasterners came out for the second period injected with a killer instinct in attack.
Richards said: “It’s all about processes and talking things through with the players at half-time, and there is very little shouting or ranting and raving.
“It’s just about making sure we get things right. I think the days of ranting and raving are long gone, and it’s just about making sure we know how to win and execute things.”
The Falcons have taken the Championship scene by storm thus far with five wins on the bounce, but Richards insists his team are starting to show what they are capable of with ball in hand.
“Last week down at Cornish Pirates the weather was awful, and two weeks ago against Doncaster there was a hell of a wind, but tonight was a lot better,” said Richards.
He added: “It has taken a while to come, but the boys are a little bit happier with their performance tonight – the hard work was done in the first-half and the final 10 minutes of the first-half were telling for me.
“We are disappointed that we leaked a try, but I thought their full-back took it extremely well. At the same time in the grand scheme of things in terms of the result, the boys are happy with how we played.
“As I keep saying week in and week out, it’s all about improving and getting the processes right, and understanding what it takes to win games.
“I think tonight is the most clinical that we have been this season and tonight we didn’t miss many opportunities, and we nailed pretty much everything this week.”
The Falcons A Team take on Gloucester at Kingston Park this Monday (kick-off 7pm).
Meanwhile, the Falcons senior side entertain Cross Keys in the British & Irish Cup on October 13 (kick-off 3pm).
