Season Recap: February 2015
The 2014/15 LV=Cup campaign rounded off against Sale at Kingston Park with a 39-19 Falcons victory which saw Scott MacLeod named man of the match and tries from Alex Rogers and Uili Kolo’ofai as well as a brace from Lee Smith.
The Falcons’ time in the competition culminated in an away trip to London Irish which saw the visitors take away a 13-31 victory and a five try bonus point thanks to a brace of tries from Ally Hogg and scores from Will Welch, Alex Tuilagi and Jamie Helleur.
The following week a Falcons Development XV notched up a 45-19 victory at home to Durham University, Sean Robinson, Tom Penny, Callum Chick and Dan Temm the Falcons’ scorers. Chick continued his positive form later that month when he and academy team mate Joe Craggs were both named amongst the England squad for the Under 18s Six Nations tournament.
The Falcons Community Foundation continued their popular Coach the Coaches masterclass with a kicking session run by first team coaches at Kingston Park Stadium, before bringing back their successful February half term coaching camps.
Within the Falcons Academy Callum Chick was once again making news as he captained England Under 18s against France in a game that saw his side emerge 21-5 victors while another England Under 18s player, Ruaridh Dawson, joined the club’s Senior Academy for the 2015/16 season.
The Falcons travelled to Sandy Park for a disappointing 46-17 defeat after which Dean Richards admitted his side “didn’t turn up on the day”.
However, there was good news to come as the Falcons announced the re-signing of Scrum Half Micky Young from Bath and the signings of New Zealand Fly Half Mike Delany and England Sevens flyer Marcus Wilson for the 2015/16 season.
Centre Adam Powell confirmed that he had signed a new two year deal at the club before turning out for the Falcons at home to Wasps in a match which resulted in a 23 all draw and arguably one of the games of the club’s season.
Another Falcon to re-sign with the club was Academy product Chris Harris, who agreed a two year contract extension and commented “The future is sorted and I’m happy about it.”
Newcastle Falcons Under 18s finish 4th in the RFU Academy Under 18 League after home victories against Yorkshire Carnegie and Worcester Warriors and a draw against Leicester Tigers. Meanwhile the club asked fans to select their Aviva A League try of the season, Tom Penny’s sublime effort against Gloucester voted the winner.
The Falcons ended February with the signing of Tongan Scrum Half Tana Takulua, who moved to the North East with immediate effect.
