The weekend has got off to a good start with the news that James Hudson and Grant Shiells amongst others have signed new contracts, and hopefully it will continue on Sunday as we meet Exeter in the fourth leg of our five-game series against the Chiefs this season.
The LV= Cup group stage is coming to an
end, and for the first time since 2007/08 we are in with a chance of qualifying
for the semi-finals on the last matchday.
With a two-point advantage over Wasps, we have the advantage of knowing
a win will definitely see us go through, while Exeter need a win to go through
but must also rely on Cardiff beating Harlequins at the Stoop, presumably
unlikely.
Wins for Harlequins and Ospreys, who play
Wasps at the Liberty Stadium, will put us into the last four whatever the
result at KP. Both of these games are on
Sunday too, although Harlequins v Cardiff kicks off at the slightly later time
of 3.15pm.
Last weekend Exeter hammered Leicester
35-10 at Sandy Park, with five tries.
Leicester may not have been anywhere near full-strength, but that won’t
have mattered to the Chiefs or the 7,000+ watching. If we get 7,000 in on Sunday then I will,
well, I’ll be very surprised.
Exeter have not won away from home since 30th
October, when they beat Saracens at Vicarage Road. Following that was a 23-23 at the Cardiff
City Stadium in the LV= Cup, but since then they have lost four consecutive
away matches, including against us at Netherdale in Europe before Christmas.
So Exeter lead our 2010/11 series 2-1 at
the moment, having beaten us twice in Devon before Christmas ahead of our tight
triumph in Netherdale, although overall it is 2-2 if we include our visitors’
only previous trip to Kingston Park, in the old (and better) knockout cup in
1998. So unless it’s a draw this Sunday,
which could well be enough to secure a semi-final place for us, one team will
take the lead.
Hudson celebrates his new contract on
Sunday by having Andrew van der Heijden start alongside him for the first time,
Tim Swinson moving to the back row.
Jeremy Manning is back in the starting team, and James Fitzpatrick and
James Hall get an opportunity to continue recent good form.
15 Jeremy Manning
14 Luke Fielden
13 Tane Tu'ipulotu
12 James Fitzpatrick
11 Alex Tait
10 Jimmy Gopperth
9 Micky Young
1 Jon Golding
2 Matt Thompson
3 James Hall
4 James Hudson (capt)
5 Andrew Van der Heijden
6 Tim Swinson
7 Will Welch
8 Ally Hogg
16 Rob Vickers
17 Kieran Brookes
18 Grant Shiells
19 Glen Townson
20 Mark Wilson
21 Hall Charlton
22 Luke Eves
23 Gcobani Bobo
Exeter team:
15 Paul McKenzie
14 Nemani Nadolo
13 Nic Sestaret
12 Bryan Rennie
11 Andrew Higgins
10 Gareth Steenson (capt)
9 Junior Poluleuligaga
1 Brett Sturgess
2 Chris Whitehead
3 Chris Budgen
4 Chad Slade
5 Dave Gannon
6 Dave Ewers
7 Andy Miller
8 James Phillips
16 Jon Vickers
17 Ruaidhri Murphy
18 Ignacio Elosu
19 Eoghan Grace
20 Herbie Stupple
21 Garrick Cowley
22 Ignacio Mieres
23 Josh Matavesi
Newcastle v Exeter, 06/02/2011
Posted by: FalconsRugby.org.uk (IP Logged)
Date: 04/02/2011 12:50
What do you think? You can have your say by posting below.
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.
Happy with that though would've swapped Vickers for Thompson in the forwards. Not much choice to pick from in the backs.
Looking forward to seeing how James Hall performs against what is always a formidable Exeter front row.I was very impressed by his ten minute cameo against Flatman at Bath. Big future he has as a scrummaging prop I think.
Well done to the boys for doing-over Exeter today, especially after all the noise Baxter has been making about revenge. Was anyone here at the match? How did the forwards perform against a big Exeter pack and who were the stand out performers? Not much detail in the report on the offy and was asleep after a night shift so unable here commentary, so any details will be appreciated.
Hope injury to Fielden is not long term with the way he has been playing.
Great result,and a cracking final 10.Tait just needs to get them to play for the first 70. The pack performed well,and the backs produced the goods at the end.If M Young is moving on,and it appears he is,I'm afraid its overdue.His general play was poor,and his passsing abysmal.We certainly need a quality scrummie,as Charlton and Pilgrim are not enough.Quick word about twinkle toes ref Chris White.Did you leave your yellow in the west country?
I thought we dominated the match but simply couldnt get over the line for a long time. What was encouraging was the number of offloads we saw, havent seen so many in a long time and they are crucial in developing an attack. Thought our scrum was good and Hall should start next week. VDH looked good, and I thought Charlton was good when he came on. Agree with Macca that Young was poor, he really didnt help Jimmy out at all. Disapointed to see Fielden leave the field he was playing well. All in all a good afternoon that should hopefully give much needed confidence to the team.
Forward pack a big improvement especially at lineout time where they took a number of Exeter throws.The scrum was pretty solid and for once was not getting wheeled backwards at a rate of knots.At times we didnt quite have the intensity of Exeter at the breakdown but happy with the improvements.Service to the backline from the base was very slow giving the backs very little space.On the few occassions we got quick ball and didnt kick it away a few nice moves were made.A long way to go but some definite improvements.After watching Scotlands recent internationals it is simply mind boggling that they continue to overlook the terrific Ally Hogg who once again stood out like a beacon.
Young gave a perfect imitation of a selfish, headless chicken. I doubt Leicester want him playing like that, but they're welcome to him. Charlton kicked the ball too much for my taste, but at least when he did pass the ball went at the right height and in the right direction.Hope the team gains confidence from the last 10 minutes and the win. Exeter have more players to come in for the vital league game, but looked very beatable providing the Falcons play well and don't give away unnecessary penalties.
Thanks for the insight guys. Glad James Hall played well. He didnt look fazed at all at playing Flatman at Bath last time out and actually gave him a big shove to boot. He does seem to have very good technique at scrum time, which is needed against clubs like Exeter. Onwards and upwards I hope from now.
Grow up lads, this is a rugby forum not a junior school playground.
On the pitch, again I thought James Hall did well as did all of the pack, we lacked that final pass to finally break them down. VDH and Hudson played well as did Hogg. Man of the match for me was Manning as he looked solid, always looked to run the ball and attack and encourages others around him.
Other than the tries, the moment of the match was Manning teasing their tight head by holding out the ball for him whilst running away just out of reach - brightened up a dull first 70 mins.
Actually dull is a tad unfair, it was poor conditions and we did everything but score for the majority of the first half. Agree with comments about Young and Tulip. Very pleasing to see us play with a bit of vigour and adventure towards the end. Most pleasing were the players celebrations on scoring and the obvious "team" delight.
Agree with much of the above. Our forwards fronted up really well against a massive Exeter pack and we more than held our own.Line-out good too and we nicked a few of theirs.
What disappointed me about the first half especially was that we failed to turn our dominance into points. There seemed to be a lack of communication between the No 8, the SH and the FH.
For instance there was one occasion when we were camped on the Exeter line for fully two minutes repeatedly trying to burrow our way over before losing the ball. And yet they had just one man defending the try-line left off the posts whereas we had four backs ready to attack. Why on earth didn't we throw the ball wide? Someone - usually the SH or the FH - has to call the shots in those situations. There was no direction at all.
Agree about Micky Young. He was poor and his passing was all over the place - round the head one minute down at the feet the next. By contrast when Hall Charlton came on the passes were going straight into the bread basket. Frankly I wouldn't play Young in this form, rather Charlton or Pilgrim if fit.
Gopperth had a poorish game too I thought. Always seemed to be caught in two minds although I don't think the slow service from Young helped. However he redeemed himself in the last ten minutes with some fine kicking.
Manning once again gave a flawless performance. He really is a superb little footballer - quick, creative, always looking for an opening.
When I complimented him after the game he said modestly: "Oh, I didn't have much to do!"
The guy is class,and the club are to be applauded for tying him up for 2 more years. Something decent from Munster,unlike the prop.Whatever happened to him?
Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.
We record all IP addresses on the Sportnetwork message boards which may be required by the authorities in case of defamatory or abusive comment.
We seek to monitor the Message Boards at regular intervals.
We do not associate Sportnetwork with any of the comments and do not take responsibility for any statements or opinions expressed on the Message Boards.
If you have any cause for concern over any material posted here please let us know as soon as possible by e-mailing
abuse@sportnetwork.net
