Falcons team to face Worcester Warriors

Posted on Nov 4, 2011 in English Rugby, Newcastle Falcons, Premiership

Newcastle Falcons are boosted by the return of skipper James Hudson for Friday’s Aviva Premiership showdown with Worcester Warriors at Kingston Park (kick-off 7.45pm).

Hudson, 30, has been banned for four weeks after an RFU panel adjudged the giant lock to have tackled a player off the ground during the Falcons Premiership clash at London Irish last month.

Now the Sutton Coldfield-born lock is raring to go with head coach Alan Tait making four further changes to his side. Top try scorer Greg Goosen replaces Jeremy Manning at full-back while Alex Tait returns to the wing and Jordi Pasqualin gets the nod at scrum-half.

As well as Hudson’s return to the pack Kiwi Richard Mayhew comes back in to the side to bolster a strong forward line which includes Scotland international Euan Murray.

“I am really excited about getting back out there,” said Hudson.

“It has certainly been a long four weeks for me and it has been very frustrating to have to watch the boys from the sideline especially when I’ve been really fit and well,” he added.

The Falcons aim to make it three successive home victories tomorrow night following wins against London Wasps and Cardiff Blues.

And with tickets reduced to only £10 adults and £5 juniors, a move which comes on the back of Semore Kurdi becoming the club’s new majority stakeholder, Hudson is appealing for fans to be the 16th man when the Warriors are in town.

He said: “The board have done a tremendous job in making tickets available to everyone at an affordable price. We now need as many fans to come through the turnstiles as possible and really get behind this group of players.

“With the present economic climate it is a good move by the club and enables fans to purchase tickets at a cheaper price.”

We will bring you pre-match build up with Alan Tait on our official website following today’s media session with the Falcons boss.

Newcastle: 15 Greg Goosen, 14 Alex Tait, 13 Corne Uys, 12 Jamie Helleur, 11 Rikki Sheriffe, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Jordi Pasqualin, 1 Grant Shiells, 2 Joe Graham, 3 Euan Murray, 4 James Hudson (c), 5 Andrew van der Heijden, 6 Richard Mayhew, 7 Will Welch, 8 Ally Hogg

Replacements: 16 Michael Mayhew, 17 Ashley Wells, 18 James Hall, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Redford Pennycook, 21 Chris Pilgrim, 22 Jeremy Manning, 23 Luke Eves

Phil Davies gets contract extension at Worcester Warriors

Posted on Aug 3, 2011 in Premiership, Worcester Warriors

Worcester Warriors have today confirmed that Forwards Coach Phil Davies has agreed a contract extension at Sixways.

Davies, an outstanding coach with a proven track record in club rugby, joined Warriors in July 2010 and together with Head Coach Richard Hill helped guide the club to promotion back to the Aviva Premiership at the first time of asking.

The former Scarlets and Leeds boss, who left his post at the WRU as Wales Under-20s coach and National Academy Manager to move to Sixways, has now put pen to paper to commit to a longer term deal until the end of the 2013/14 season.

Davies follows Head Coach Richard Hill who also recently signed a new two-year contract extension at Warriors.

Davies said: “I really enjoyed my first year at Warriors. What has really impressed me about the club has been Richard Hill’s vision for where he wants to take the team and also the group of players we have assembled here, who are all keen to learn and develop.

“The supporters have also been magnificent. They remind me in many ways of my old playing days at Stradey Park for Llanelli as they sing and cheer the team on. I genuinely think they are a massive part of why this club is so special and the support for the players over the last 12 months has been fantastic.

“I’d talked about working with Richard in the past, but it is one thing talking about it and actually doing it,” he added.

“In practice it has worked exceptionally well. I’ve enjoyed not only training the forwards but also looking at other aspects of phase play, the breakdown and being heavily involved with team meetings. Our partnership has worked well and I see my job to support Richard and the other coaches and players.

“There was one aim last year and that was to get back to the Aviva Premiership. That was our big goal. Now we have an opportunity to build on that and enjoy a strong future. Our first year back is going to be tough and challenging for everybody, but it is something we are all looking forward to. It’s an exciting time.”

Charlie Little, Managing Director at Warriors, said everyone at the club was delighted that both Richard Hill and Phil Davies had signed new contract extensions in quick succession.

“Richard and Phil work very well together, have similar values to the game and a very good understanding. Both have extremely strong reputations in world rugby and are critical to the future success of Worcester Warriors,” he said.

“There was never any question about extending Phil’s contract for the same reasons we applied with Richard Hill. We firmly believe that this management team can take the club forward and build a bright future.

“We hope with that stability, consistency and commitment from them our style of play will develop and bring us success on the pitch.”

England U20 39-18 Scotland

Posted on Jun 16, 2011 in Latest Rugby News

"It wasn’t out best display, but we’ve got three more games out here and it’s time to start ramping up our performance levels. We’ve seen that the pressure of getting out of your Pool is immense and the South Africa game next up will be a huge test for us. Of the 26 players in the squad, 25 have now had game time and it’s great that they’ve experienced it, we’ve tried to keep them all fresh because playing every four days is a challenge. I thought that the subs that came on against Scotland gave us a bit of a spark; Charlie Matthews, Alex Gray and Chris Cook all looked good and helped us to close the game out in what was a difficult game."

Worcester Warriors flanker Matt Kvesic (Captain)

"It was a massive honour leading the boys out, and it’s especially pleasing that we’ve come away with the win. It wasn’t an easy game to play in, but to put 39 points on the board when you know there’s still more to come is a good sign. Scotland were tough and fought tooth and nail until the end but we’ve got some good finishers in the squad and it was nice to see Christian Wade go over for his tries. South Africa will be a different style of game, we know how physical they are so we’ll try and combat that the best way we can. It’s a game we’re all looking forward to as it’s a chance for us to compete against some very good southern hemisphere players."

London Wasps wing Christian Wade (Scored a hat-trick)

"I’m really happy to score three tries but it was all about the team, they created the opportunities for me and I was just in the right place at the right time. Scotland were really tough to break down, they showed a lot of heart and gave us a good workout. The lads are a bit disappointed about the way we played, but at least we’re not kidding ourselves, we know that we’ve got things to work on and that’s exactly what we’ll do. I’m going to do all I can to make sure I get a chance against South Africa, which will definitely be a tough game but there’s a lot of talent within this squad and we’re confident of doing well."

Saracens fly half Owen Farrell

"We know that we can play better than that, but in this kind of environment all you need to do is win matches and that’s what we’ve done. We’ve beaten Ireland and Scotland now, and we feel that there’s more to come, which is a good place to be. We’ll take a look at the Scotland game, figure out what we can do better and then do all we can to beat South Africa. We know it’s not going to be an easy game, and we know that we’re going to have to be at our best, but looking at the squad we’ve got here, there’s absolutely no reason why we can’t beat them – we’re confident in each other."

Gloucester Rugby centre Ryan Mills

"We’re really happy about getting the win, but there’s no way we’ve peaked yet. There’s a lot to work on after the Scotland game, but to score five tries when you’re not at your best is always a good sign. It was hot out there which maybe limited us in terms of the amount of our running, but we still showed glimpses of what we’re capable of. Scotland made things tough for us and their set piece was pretty good – as we knew it would be, and they got behind us a few times, and that’s something we’ll take a look at.

"South Africa are next and we know what kind of a side they are. They’re good with the ball in hand so we’ll be looking to keep as much possession as possible. It’s a winnable game and if we want to win the whole thing then we’ll need to play and beat these southern hemisphere sides."

Hill calls for focus on one last game

Posted on May 17, 2011 in Latest Rugby News

Head Coach Richard Hill has called on his Worcester Warriors to hit the floor running in the second leg of the RFU Championship final – and concentrate on winning the one-off game with Cornish Pirates.

Worcester take a nine-point lead into the sell-out televised encounter at Sixways tomorrow (Wednesday) after claiming a hard-fought 21-12 win in Penzance last week.

Hill is aware that fired-up Cornish Pirates will arrive keen to wipe out that advantage as soon as possible.

However, he has called on his Warriors to rise to the challenge, to repeat the impressive start they produced at the Mennaye Field, and put any thoughts of promotion to the back of their mind.

“There is no talk of the lead,” he said. “We are not talking about promotion or the nine points. This about one game and that is the beauty of winning the first tie.

“We haven’t got to fuss about anything else. The task is now clear and we have got to win the game.

“It was critical to get the win in the first leg. If you are coming back and you have lost by a point or two points then a lot of tactics start going through your head about kicking goals, kicking for corners or drop goals, you panic about conceding early points.

“The massive task was to go to Cornwall and win because that means here is just a normal game and we have to win.

Hill also insists the mood inside the camp is good and the squad are not feeling the pressure ahead of the big kick-off.

“There is no pressure on us,” he said. “We are very cool and very calm about it. I expect us to be ruthless and we want to win and put a performance in.

“We didn’t play anything like how we can play as a team last Wednesday. It was an ugly win and we did what we needed to do to win 21-12. We have got a huge amount to come if we really click.”

Goode puts Warriors on pole

Posted on May 12, 2011 in Latest Rugby News

Cornish Pirates 12 Worcester Warriors 21

Andy Goode bagged 16 points to put Worcester Warriors in pole position for a return to the Aviva Premiership.

The former England fly-half grabbed a first-half try and kicked three penalties and a conversion as Warriors left the Mennaye Field with a nine-point lead going into next Wednesday’s RFU Championship final second leg at Sixways.

“We’ll take nine points back home with us but it could have been more,” said Goode. “In first half we were in complete control but in the second they threw everything at us and chucked the ball around with nothing to lose. We gave too many penalties away, which only gave us a nine-point cushion when it could have been 12 or 15.”

For Pirates wing Rhodri McAtee it was a frustrating night but he added: “We can still do it. Nine points is not a big deficit at all. We are disappointed not to have scored any tries but they defended well.”

The Warriors got on the score-sheet in the sixth minute after being camped in the Pirates ‘22. They beat a forwards’ march to the line before bringing centre Dale Rasmussen into play and wing Miles Benjamin proved why he is Warriors’ top try scorer by stepping out of McAtee’s tackle and over the line.

The livewire wing put the disappointment behind him to lead the Pirates fightback with a chip and gather but it came to nothing.

Goode put Worcester 8-0 up before Rob Cook pulled back three points but it was small respite.  

The Warriors’ forwards had the upper hand in a series of reset scrums on the Pirates’ line and with such a dominant platform, scrum-half Jonny Arr fed Goode, who skipped out of Gavin Cattle’s reach for the try which he converted.

Cook landed his second penalty but then Pirates infringed straight away and Goode slotted another kick for an 18-6 halftime lead.

He missed a chance to put the Warriors safe but hooked it wide and Cook did no better with a chance of his own.

Goode rediscovered his radar to extend the lead before Cook pulled back two more penalties, one when Neil Best was sinbinned.

Cornish Pirates: R Cook; R McAtee, M Hopper, T Luke (D Locke 54), W Davies (R Elloway 63); J Bentley, G Cattle (capt); P Andrew (R Storer 63). D Ward (T Holmes 75), A Paver (C Rimmer 69), I Nimmo, M Myerscough, C Morgan, P Burgess, L McGlone (K Marriott 69). Rep not used:J Doherty.

Scorers: Pens– Cook (4).

Worcester Warriors:C  Pennell (capt); M Garvey, A Crockett (A Grove 57), D Rasmussen, M Benjamin; A Goode (J Carlisle 75), J Arr; A Black, C Fortey (A Lutui 54), T Taumoepeau (B Douglas 61), G Rawlinson (G Kitchener 61), C Gillies, N Best (A Balding 69), J Abbott, K Horstmann. Rep not used: O Frost.

Yellow card: Best 58-68
Scorers: Tries – Benjamin, Goode; Pens – Goode (3); Con –  Goode

Referee:  Martin Fox (RFU)

Att: 3,500