TWO TRY FRY READY FOR EURO DEBUT
Newcastle Falcons USA Eagle Eric Fry makes is looking forward to making a return to the first team this weekend as the club kicks off its European Rugby Challenge Cup campaign against Bucharest Wolves on Friday.
The Falcons inaugural match in the new look tournament also marks the 27 year old’s first foray into European competition of any kind and one that he is looking forward to.
“It will be a new experience for me this week to be playing in Europe and one I am very excited about. At Scottish we had the British and Irish Cup which isn’t quite the same but gives you a taster of these types of matches.”
Joining the Falcons over the summer from the Championship outfit, Fry has already made his Aviva Premiership debut at home to London Irish and has continue to acclimatise to his new surrounding, featuring heavily in the club’s Aviva A League campaign, where on his last outing; he earned the nickname “Two Try Fry” a moniker that has stuck since.
“It’s been pretty funny that little nickname, which has lead to a lot of good banter since then so it would be great to get another two tries and keep that going! In all seriousness though, this competition is about keeping momentum going, both as a club and personally, so everyone is going out there to put on a show.”
With the team showing a number of changes from the side that rounded off the opening Aviva Premiership segment of the season, Dean Richards and his coaching staff have selected a side that allows them to cast an eye over members of the squad while others take a well earned rest, which Fry says gives the side a good balance.
“We have a mixture of the guys who have been in the Prem side and the A side guys and with both teams are coming off a couple of wins so I think we’ll have a lot of energy, a lot of excitement.
“The last couple of weeks have been a lot about fine tuning things rather than having to right the ship, or completely overhaul things, and with confidence growing from that, it’s much easier to keep that momentum going.”
Facing Bucharest for the second time in their European pool in as many years, Fry insists he and his team mates are fully aware of the challenge posed by Lynn Howells side and that the Falcons will be ready come 8pm on Friday.
“We’ve watched Bucharest’s last couple of games to qualify for this cup and the boys who were here last year have spoken about what it is was like going to Bucharest last year and how I think they came in just a bit complacent and it turned into a very tough game.”
“They are a big, tough side who do a lot of things very well, so there’s no room for complacency. There is room for confidence and to carry that momentum that we have forward.”
“We’ve been talking about bringing energy and aggression and about playing fast, open rugby at the weekend so we’re going to look to continue to do that.”
Tickets for tomorrow’s game are still available and can be purchased by clicking [here][1] calling 0871 2266060 or by calling into the Kingston Park box office.
Advanced ticket prices are in place until 5pm tomorrow evening, after which time full prices will come into effect.
[1]: https://www.eticketing.co.uk/newcastle-falcons/default.aspx
