Richards Thrilled With International Display
Tries from Scott Lawson, Alex Tait, Tom Catterick, George McGuigan and Chris Harris saw them comfortably past the Rugby World Cup participants, Richards making no attempt to hide his delight.
“It is a great scalp for the club to beat the 13th-ranked team in world rugby, and they had all their big guns out there on the field,” said the Director of Rugby.
“In the first half we defended incredibly well, and that was really pleasing given the emphasis we have put on improving our defence.
“That hard work showed. We made dominant hits, reorganised well, and the only disappointment was the one Georgia try when Mamuka Gorgodze went through the middle of a ruck.
“We are defending slightly differently, but not overly so. We have spent a lot more time working on it, but that has not detracted from our try-scoring ability which was again there for everyone to see.”
In particular praising the contribution of his younger players, Richards added: “On the whole it was a really good performance, doubly pleasing because of the way in which a lot of young lads made their debuts.
“Dan Marshall was outstanding on the wing, and Craig Willis was unlucky not to get man of the match. He was very close to it, and I was please to see Brett Connon and Andrew Foster get on.”
Making sound forward progress against a famed Lelos scrummagng unit, Richards said: “Georgia are renowned for their scrummaging and we knew it was going to be a brutal battle there.
“They had that series of scrums on our line where we conceded three penalties, so to take one against the head from the fourth re-set was really pleasing.”
Opting against starting with any of his new signings, Richards explained: “Yeah, it was a deliberate ploy.
“We felt we wanted to reward the boys who have been at the club for a long time, and it was the right thing to do. People have to earn their stripes here, and the guys who started deserved that opportunity.
“The quality of the rugby was really good, and we showed yet again why we put the new pitch down. The rugby was precise, we played with pace and there were less errors than you would expect It was a great night.”
For a full video interview with Dean Richards click [here][1].
The Falcons are next in action at home to Sale Sharks next Sunday in the opening round of the Kings of the North competition.
[1]: https://youtu.be/k1TUG53dj9w
