Richards satisfied with Falcons Friday showing
Dean Richards expressed his satisfaction as his side played a full part in providing full entertainment value in Friday’s 23-23 home draw with Wasps with the director of rugby was delighted by the manner in which the hosts erased the memories of last week’s loss at Exeter, saying: “To have scored three tries against the best defence in the Premiership is not a bad effort.
“Last week at Exeter was just a nightmare, wasn’t it. We didn’t turn up and the boys just weren’t at it. Against Wasps we had been talking all week about having a point to prove, and in some respects I think we proved it.”
Battling back from 13-11 down at the break, Richards said: “There was some fantastic rugby being played and we showed a lot of patience for our tries.
“We showed what we can do when we get into our right shape and play how we say we are going to play. The difficulty for us is that when we score tries we seem to take out foot off the gas a little bit, and we allow teams to come back into the game.”
“We should not be doing that, and those scenarios are where you really need to take the bull by the horns to kill sides off. At this moment in time we are just allowing people to come back at us, and that is where we need to improve.”
Thrilling a 7,547-strong crowd in a match which went down to the wire, the director of rugby said: “There wouldn’t have been many people going home disappointed by the game they had just seen.
“Obviously as coaches we were disappointed not to get the win as I am sure some of the fans will have been, but from an entertainment standpoint it was full value out there. The changing room was a bit of a frustrated place, to be honest. One of the players said drawing the game was a bit like kissing your aunt.”
“Wasps are a top-four team but we knew we had a chance of turning them over. We are disappointed we didn’t, and we have got to take our chances. When Sinoti was five metres from the line he just needed to pin his ears back and have a go, and chances like that don’t come around very often against a side as good as Wasps.”
Richards added: “The boys are playing what they see in front of them, and we showed that by chipping out of our own 22 from the very start. We are getting better at it, and I thought Tom Catterick played exceptionally well at fly-half. Will Welch and Mark Wilson were among the many who shone, and we have got a lot of good young English players here. I am delighted for them, and for the way it is going.”
