Newcastle Director of Rugby, Gary Gold has understandably been full of praise for his side following their 29-20 victory over Gloucester last weekend at Kingsholm. Gold praised his players for showing “amazing character” in the game which has seen them reignite their hopes to avoid relegation to the Championship.
The victory was Falcons first away win in the league since February 2011 and was certainly needed in their bid to avoid the drop. The victory came courtesy of tries from back rowers Ally Hogg and Mark Wilson with captain and fly half Jimmy Gopperth kicking the remaining 19 points.
The Falcons now have two games remaining, Saracens at home, which given the two sides form is seeming more winnable than would have been thought, and Wasps away in what is likely to be a relegation decider.
Gold described the Falcons first half performance as “we pretty much stuck to the plan perfectly, really”. Whilst admitting that the second half display was less impressive the first half display proved to be enough and they showed good character when they slipped behind in the second half to reclaim the lead and hold on for an impressive victory over the Heineken Cup chasing Cherry and Whites.
Gold was also keen to praise his players’ work rate. He described them as “a good bunch of players who are really committed to keeping Premiership rugby in the north-east”. This is a refreshing statement in a world where professional sportsmen often seem unconnected to the passions of their fans and regions.
With the passion and the resurgence in form the Falcons are showing in recent weeks it will not be a surprise if they do remain in the Premiership, which given the amount of times they have been written off at various points throughout the season would be an impressive achievement.
Gold has been in charge since January and has overseen an impressive resurgence. It was though only ever a temporary appointment and he will be replaced by Dean Richards from next season.
Aviva Premiership side the Newcastle Falcons just can’t get things right at the moment – be it with their dismal performances on the pitch that have left them in the relegation spot from the top tier of English rugby or off it where it has marred by controversy after controversy. And now, to make things worse, it has been revealed that the club’s most influential player Jeremy Manning has been ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering an injury. The player injured himself during the match against the British Army in Portugal last week, even which The Falcons failed to win, ending with a draw with a 31-31 score.
The fullback has ruptured ligaments in the thumb of his right hand and he will require immediate surgery, effectively ruling out for the last three games that the Newcastle Falcons have to play and win in order to preserve their Aviva Premiership status. The fullback has played in 16 of the 19 games that the club has played this season in the Aviva Premiership and has two tries to his name as well.
This will come as a huge setback for The Falcons who have still three matches to play to make up their eight point deficit with the London Wasps in order to survive to fight another season in the Premiership and without the New Zealander, that task just got harder for the bottom side.
Even the player himself was extremely disappointed for missing the most important part of the season when the future of the club in the top tier of English rugby is at stake. Speaking to Jonny Wilkinson’s new website, Manning said that the injury came at the wrong time but he is still hopeful that the Newcastle Falcons will still manage to avoid the drop from the elite league.
Tags: 2011, Aviva, Falcons, Gloucester, live, Newcastle, Premiership, RUGBY, Schedule, Stream
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March 14, 2012 9:32 am | 
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Former Newcastle scrum half, Hall Charlton, has called on his former side to call upon the spirit of 2003 to inspire them to avoid relegation and to retain their Premiership place.
2003 saw the Falcons turn around a seemingly impossible situation to avoid relegation and they find themselves in a similar situation this year. Back in 2003 they were 6 points adrift at the foot of the table going into the final run of games, this season they are 6 points adrift with just 6 games to go. They have also changed coach mid season and brought in a number of players mid season to bolster their squad for the fight against the drop.
Back in 2003 it was a try from Charlton that turned the Falcon’s campaign and he feels a similar moment could save Newcastle’s skin again. In the sixth minute of added time in a clash with Leeds at Headingly Charlton’s try secured a 17-12 victory for Newcastle. Further victories for the Falcon’s followed against Northampton, Saracens and Leicester and they went on to avoid relegation at the expense of Bristol.
The achievements of that season are still close to Charlton’s heart. Having retired last year from professional rugby he is regularly asked about the fondest memories of his career at Newcastle. “They naturally assume I will talk about winning two Powergen Cup finals at Twickenham or things like that, but the one that always sticks out in my mind is scoring the winning try against Leeds in 2003.”
Falcon’s fans and current players will understand that sentiment. If the current Falcons side can match the achievement of 2003 it will be perhaps even more impressive. It will need to be soon though. With just six games to go they need to get to winning ways sooner rather than later. This weekend sees a clash with Harlequins and if Falcons can take even a losing bonus point from this game they will have a huge boost for the rest of the season.