Richards salutes six-try Falcons
The Falcons scored six tries and kicked all of their goals in a power-packed Gallagher Premiership performance at Sixways Stadium, recording their first league victory of the calendar year.
“In some ways it’s a monkey off our back, but in fairness we’ve been playing well for a lot of the past month and a half,” said Richards, whose side have been repeatedly sunk by late scores in recent weeks.
“We’ve been very close against some good teams but just not managed to get one of them over the line in terms of winning, so yeah, in that sense today feels like a bit of progress.”
Asked where he felt the key difference had been, the Falcons boss said: “We took a lot of our chances today, and that was the difference.
“We’ve been creating plenty but not always nailing them, but I thought the boys were excellent today.
“We stuck at it for the full 80, and as I say, I think we’ve been playing well for much of the past couple of months, so we always felt we had it in us.
“Our youngsters were outstanding, and Josh Basham and Freddie Lockwood in the back row were both superb.
“George McGuigan is on top of his game, Jamie Blamire came on from the bench and took his chance, and guys like Mateo Carreras, Adam Radwan – I could name them all, to be fair – they all played their part.
“Brett Connon kicked 100% from the tee and scored a good try, which was pleasing, and even when Worcester came back into the game we were able to ride out that period.”
Richards added: “They’ve got a lot of good players, some British and Irish Lions, and they were always going to be a threat.
“We said before the game we had to match them in terms of intensity, and I thought we did that right from the start.
“It was one of those days when everything fell into place, even though we weren’t doing that much differently from how we’ve been playing in the last few weeks.
“We’ve trained well during the week coming into today, the preparation has been spot-on and the boys deserve this result for all the work they’ve put in.”
Newcastle host a double header at Kingston Park Stadium on Saturday April 9, taking on Heriot’s at 4.30pm and Zebre at 8pm.
Both games are included in the 2021-22 season ticket, with non-season ticket members able to book their place by [**clicking here.**][1]
[1]: https://www.eticketing.co.uk/newcastle-falcons/EDP/Event/Index/1720