Vickers Positive On Falcons Progress
Following a positive performance against Leicester Tigers at the weekend, Prop Bobby Vickers believes his Newcastle Falcons side are drawing ever closer to an all-important Aviva Premiership win.
“I think we started very well in the weekend’s game. We defended very well and our attack was outstanding in the first 20 minutes. I think we’ve improved week on week for several weeks now and we just need to keep on improving, which will take us in the right direction.”
Despite the many positives in their performance, the Falcons were unable to hold on for the win at Welford Road, coming out of the game with ten points to the home side’s 22.
“We were hugely disappointed with the result,” Vickers commented. “There were loads of great things in our performance – our set piece was generally pretty good and in the first 20 minutes we played in all areas of the field. We only travelled down that morning but on the whole I thought we gave a really good account of ourselves.
“We defended very well but in the end the sheer amount of defending we did took it out of us. Game management-wise we weren’t as fresh as we could’ve been and although we attacked well we didn’t execute as well as we’d have liked.
“If we could’ve done those things slightly better that would’ve changed the game. But there’s a lot to build on and we’ll go from there.”
One of those positives from the Falcons’ Boxing Day performance was the performance of Craig Willis, the 20-year-old making his first Aviva Premiership start against the Tigers.
Speaking of the youngster, Vickers said: “Craig was outstanding. To come down and make your first start in front of a pretty packed Welford Road and play as he did, I think he’s got a really bright future ahead of him.
“He’s a great talent, as is Tom Catterick and as is Mike Delany when he comes back. Now to have Andy Goode to add to the mix at Fly Half gives us a lot of positive options.”
Despite their impressive performance on Saturday, the Falcons are still awaiting their first league victory of the 2015/16 season, but Vickers believes that all-important result is not too far away.
“We’re very close to getting that first win; I thought we nearly nicked it at Sale and I think we’re continuing to improve. If we were playing the same rugby now that we were in the first games I’d be worried but I think we’re playing much better rugby in patches and if we can string that together more and more we’ll be there.
“There’s a lot of belief in the camp and it’s important to remember that it’s still early in the season; usually we’d have played 11 or 12 games by now but we’re only seven games in so we still have a chance to improve.”
That next chance comes this Saturday when the Falcons face Bath on home turf at Kingston Park Stadium, a game Vickers says the team are already excited for.
“We’re looking forward to Bath coming up. We love playing on the pitch at home and love the fans that we have, and those things make all the difference for us. Bath are a great team with a big pack and fast backs, but I don’t think that’s any different to any other team in the Premiership really.
“We need to play well against Bath and continue to show that we’re evolving, then take that confidence into the game against London Irish the following weekend, and hopefully the home advantage will help with that.
“The Kingston Park crowd are fantastic and hopefully they’ll celebrate New Year’s Eve and have recovered from the hangover in time to come and cheer us on on Saturday!”
Tickets for the game against Bath are available now [online][1], in person from the Kingston Park Stadium Box Office or by calling the club’s 24 hour Ticket Hotline on 0871 226 6060, starting from £15 for adults and £7.50 for juniors.
[1]: http://www.newcastlefalcons.co.uk/Pages/Tickets/info
