
‘Season still alive’ says Deano
Joel Hodgson’s penalty with the final kick of the game rewarded a spell of late pressure as Richards and his side maintained their dream of Champions Cup rugby, the director of rugby saying after the 16-14 triumph: “We probably shouldn’t have left it too late with the amount of possession we had towards the end.
“We created a huge number of opportunities but that last pass or little bit of finesse just wasn’t quite there, and with two or three minutes to go it looked like we’d be ruing missed opportunities.
“It was frustrating, and what we said was that a little bit of accuracy was all we needed to convert the pressure we had. There was a huge amount of endeavour, and this season is not petering out for us while we have the opportunity to still finish sixth or seventh. That’s what we’re aiming to do.”
Richards added: “I thought Gloucester tired. They had a big European game last weekend and it probably showed, combined with a long journey up here. We stood the test of time a little better than they did this evening.
“Gloucester chose not to play much from inside their own half, and as a result their exit strategy was pretty accurate in terms of putting us under pressure from the kick-chase. We opted to play a slightly different way and it probably caught us cold a couple of times, but that’s our strategy and we ultimately got the win.
“It’s not a bad place to be at the moment, the boys are enjoying themselves and they’re smiling. We know we weren’t as accurate as we should be and we won ugly to a certain extent. God know what we’ll be like when we turn it on!”
Newcastle Falcons’ next home game is against Worcester Warriors on Friday April 28. For tickets [**click here**][1] or call 0871 226 6060.
[1]: https://www.eticketing.co.uk/newcastle-falcons/details/event.aspx?itemref=2951