Richards readies troops for Boxing Day battle
The 3pm Gallagher Premiership kick-off will be the Falcons’ first game in 16 days, having had a bye last weekend due to the odd number of teams in their EPCR Challenge Cup pool.
Defeating Worcester Warriors 31-26 in their last game but admitting it was far from the perfect performance, the director of rugby said: “The boys had a rest during the first half of last week, which has been nice, and they were only in for a couple of days at the back end of that week.
“A little bit like when we’d drawn with Worcester in the league a fortnight earlier – we created so many opportunities and didn’t finish them off as well as we could have done.
“We leaked too many easy tries, we gifted them some points and should have been a little bit further ahead at the end than we were.
“Things like sorting our kick-chase and all those little elements of the game, they can be easily rectified, and those are the kinds of things we’ve been working on.”
Looking to beat Sale at home for a fifth consecutive time in Gallagher Premiership action, Richards is expecting a great occasion as the North East sporting public head out in numbers for some Boxing Day action.
He said: “With everything going on at the moment it’s nice to be able to get out into the fresh air and watch some live sport, and if I was in the supporters’ shoes I would definitely take the opportunity of coming along.
“I just find there’s always something special about a Boxing Day game, and that’s what I was brought up on.
“The atmosphere is great because friends and families are really in the mood, and you can generally get your biggest crowd of the season around this time of year.”
Tickets for the 3pm kick-off against Sale Sharks are on sale by [**clicking here**][1].
[1]: https://www.eticketing.co.uk/newcastle-falcons/EDP/Event/Index/1665
