Newcastle vs Saracens - Friday night

[Puja]

Newcastle Falcons v Saracens (Friday, 7.45pm, Kingston Park, live on Discovery+)

15 Ethan Grayson, 14 Ben Stevenson, 13 Sammy Arnold, 12 Cameron Hutchison, 11 Alex Hearle, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Sam Stuart; 1 Murray McCallum, 2 Jamie Blamire, 3 Richard Palframan, 4 Philip van der Walt, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 6 Freddie Lockwood, 7 Tom Gordon, 8 Callum Chick (captain).

Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Mike Rewcastle, 18 Callum Hancock, 19 Kiran McDonald, 20 Ollie Leatherbarrow, 21 Max Pepper, 22 Connor Doherty, 23 Adam Radwan.

Not available for selection: Eduardo Bello, Adam Brocklebank, Tim Cardall, Luan de Bruin, John Hawkins, John Kelly, Cameron Neild, Elliott Obatoyinbo, Pedro Rubiolo, Adam Scott.

Saracens: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Tobias Elliott, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Rotimi Segun, 10 Fergus Burke, 9 Ivan van Zyl (captain); 1 Rhys Carre, 2 Theo Dan, 3 Fraser Balmain, 4 Theo McFarland, 5 Hugh Tizard, 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7 Toby Knight, 8 Tom Willis.

Replacements: 16 James Hadfield, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 Harry Wilson, 20 Nathan Michelow, 21 Gareth Simpson, 22 Sam Spink, 23 Tom Parton.

Referee: Matthew Carley.

[Mellsblue]

This could (should) get ugly.

[FKAS]

Falcons beat a pretty strong Sale team in the PRC last weekend. As long as they turn up this could be a decent game for at least the first 40 mins. You'd expect that Sarries bench to do a number on Falcons though. No Bello or de Bruin really does hammer any chances of Falcons getting set piece security.

[Banquo]

meanwhile....Olly Hartley plays for Ampthill tomorrow.

[Puja]

This could (should) get ugly.

Quite probably, but Newcastle have some confidence back after the PRC and, probably more importantly, actually have a fly-half now. I think it'll be closer than expected.

Puja

[p/d]

This could (should) get ugly.

…………….

[p/d]

Way to go Falcons

[Captainhaircut]

In a losing effort but blimey Tom Willis was good again.

Falcons were excellent. Hope Arnold isn’t badly injured- he’s been excellent. Going to hope Tizard was just desperate as it was the last play of the game rather than any real malice. Was a dreadful clearout though.

Strange decision not to kick at goal at the end. That bonus point for Sarries might matter at the end of the season.

[Puja]

In a losing effort but blimey Tom Willis was good again.

Falcons were excellent. Hope Arnold isn’t badly injured- he’s been excellent. Going to hope Tizard was just desperate as it was the last play of the game rather than any real malice. Was a dreadful clearout though.

Strange decision not to kick at goal at the end. That bonus point for Sarries might matter at the end of the season.

Unlikely to matter to Newcastle whether Sarries get a bonus point though, will it? Why take the risk, even if only a small one, of the ball coming off the posts, landing in Sarries hands, and them then scoring a game-winning try, all for the sake of denying a losing bonus point to a side who are unlikely to occupy the same bit of the table that you will? Easier just to boot it out and guarantee the win.

I said it'd be closer than expected - Diamond has a unique and weird skill of taking a bunch of no-hopers, schoolboys, and journeymen and somehow forging them into a solidly slightly-below-average team. Doesn't appear to have any clue how to coach a good team to be great, but by gods can he turn a crap team into a mediocre one! An alchemist with an unrivalled ability to transmute lead into bronze.

It's a good skill to have - the team he's built looks like it'll be scavenged for parts by the end of the season, but I'd bet it won't drastically affect the actual quality of the side as a whole for next season.

Puja

[Mellsblue]

Told ya.

[fivepointer]

Unexpected but very welcome result. Newcastle now off the bottom of the table.

[FKAS]

In a losing effort but blimey Tom Willis was good again.

Falcons were excellent. Hope Arnold isn’t badly injured- he’s been excellent. Going to hope Tizard was just desperate as it was the last play of the game rather than any real malice. Was a dreadful clearout though.

Strange decision not to kick at goal at the end. That bonus point for Sarries might matter at the end of the season.

Unlikely to matter to Newcastle whether Sarries get a bonus point though, will it? Why take the risk, even if only a small one, of the ball coming off the posts, landing in Sarries hands, and them then scoring a game-winning try, all for the sake of denying a losing bonus point to a side who are unlikely to occupy the same bit of the table that you will? Easier just to boot it out and guarantee the win.

I said it'd be closer than expected - Diamond has a unique and weird skill of taking a bunch of no-hopers, schoolboys, and journeymen and somehow forging them into a solidly slightly-below-average team. Doesn't appear to have any clue how to coach a good team to be great, but by gods can he turn a crap team into a mediocre one! An alchemist with an unrivalled ability to transmute lead into bronze.

It's a good skill to have - the team he's built looks like it'll be scavenged for parts by the end of the season, but I'd bet it won't drastically affect the actual quality of the side as a whole for next season.

Puja

Diamond is very good at giving struggling sides an identity and a focus. He's an ideal coach to bring in to steady the ship, get the academy pathway going and then in two or three years shunt upstairs as you bring in a more innovative coach. The foundations he setup at Sale were impressive and he looked like he was going to do the same at Wuss. The side he's developed at Falcons are physical and abrasive. As you say, now they've got an actual flyhalf they will cause some upsets.

Hopefully being more competitive makes them a more marketable proposition so that they can get a backer with vision and deep pockets to drive them on.

[p/d]

Told ya.

Quick question Mells, was that Curtis’ brother playing for the Blues last night?

[Mikey Brown]

Diamond has a unique and weird skill of taking a bunch of no-hopers, schoolboys, and journeymen and somehow forging them into a solidly slightly-below-average team.

Get him in the England setup. Sort out this bunch of pathetic losers.