Richards rues set-piece failings
Speaking after the Aviva Premiership defeat Welford Road, Newcastle Falcons’ director of rugby said: “Our set-piece was woeful, we never had parity as a result and every time we tried to we messed it up.
“Inaccuracy in the set-piece was the order of the day, and that was pretty much it.”
Frustrated by the officiating as he returned to his former club, the long-time Tigers No 8 said: “There were two deliberate knock-ons where we didn’t even get a penalty, some strange things happened out there in terms of interpretations but I can’t complain really, because I benefited from it for a number of years when I played down here.
“We thought there were things going on at the scrum but it’s irrelevant if the referee doesn’t agree with you, and it wasn’t helped by the fact our line-out wasn’t functioning.
“There were deliberate knock-ons not given, and when we looked at the officiating quartet before the game we knew they’d be influenced very heavily by the Leicester crowd. The crowd here are like that, and we knew we probably weren’t going to get the parity we wanted.”
Richards added: “The lads are disappointed in the changing room because we didn’t turn up on the day, and that’s the most frustrating part.
“You know what to expect against Leicester and, if you don’t get certain things right, as we didn’t on the day, then you’re going to struggle.
“Seventh place is still on and there are games still to be played, but we’re just looking at our own performance. Today we were poor, last week we were fine and we’re a little bit inconsistent. That’s the most frustrating part of it, because when we’re on song we play some good rugby.”
Newcastle Falcons are next in action on Friday April 28 when they host Worcester Warriors. Tickets for the 8pm kick-off are available by [**clicking here**.][1]
[1]: https://www.eticketing.co.uk/newcastle-falcons/details/event.aspx?itemref=2951
