Newcastle Falcons losing run was extended to 20 matches when they went down to Wasps at the weekend, their last win in October 2013 against London Irish. This losing streak is the form of a team that should be relegated, however they have been fortunate with the misfortunes of others last season, and seemingly this season. Last season it was Worcester, and this season London Welsh, who look to be Newcastle’s saviour with them hemorrhaging points, keeping Newcastle out of the relegation zone. However, that may change.
Only two teams have worse losing records than Newcastle at this time; Worcester went 22 league defeats in a row last year, only to beat Newcastle to end that run. The only team who has suffered more defeats is Rotherham, who went 30 games without a win. I hope, for the Newcastle fans’ sake, this doesn’t happen.
For a team with such a rich history of talent, and relative success, it is a shame to see. They can boast to have accommodated players such as Carl Hayman, Jonny Wilkinson, Jamie Noon, Toby Flood and Lee Dickson. However an exodus of that talent from 2008 – 2011 saw them relegated from the Premiership in 2011. They did indeed bounce straight back to be promoted the following season under the guidance of Dean Richards, but since they have come back they seem to be struggling for form.
Having watched many of their games and given much thought to what the problem may be at Newcastle, it is hard to pin point a reason why this has occurred. Obviously a team that keeps losing is going to be low on confidence, however the talent that they currently posses it is a surprise. They recruited rather heavily and seemingly well in the summer. Some examples being Ruki Tipuna, a lively scrum half from Bristol and Josh Furno, a towering presence to add to the pack. This coupled with current squad members such as Mike Blair, Kieran Brookes, Dom Barrow and Scott Lawson.
Dean Richards promised a change in the style of rugby this season, and to challenge more in the league; so far there is no evidence of this. Each post match interview he is talking about positives where there have been few, and in all fairness they should have beaten London Irish but for the misfiring boot of Juan Pablo Socino. I guess when it isn’t going your way, that’s how things pan out.
Richards also keeps talking of a win that “is coming”, so I suppose it’s how long the fans and the owners have to wait, and for that matter how long they are willing to wait. It will be interesting to see how the team gets on over the next couple of weeks, and to see if the club goes to the extremes of letting Richards go, as for a club like Newcastle to boast such a losing record isn’t acceptable.
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