Premiership
Walder reacts to Saracens loss
Jamie Blamire scored a second-half try for the Falcons
Sunday 9 October 2022
Newcastle Falcons head coach Dave Walder made no excuses for Sunday’s 34-14 defeat to unbeaten Gallagher Premiership leaders Saracens.
The Kingston Park clash had been largely one-way traffic until the visitors had Mako Vunipola red-carded midway through the second half, with Newcastle offering late resistance while never really threatening the outcome of the contest.
“We had a nine-day turnaround so we can’t complain about lack of preparation time, and as coaches we’ve got to sit down and talk about whether we did certain things right with the time that we had – myself included,” said Walder.
“Did we give them too much time off at the start of the week?
“Did we overload them with too much information because of the extra preparation time, or did we not give them enough?
“Did we pick the right team?
“We can talk about the need to rotate some guys who have played a lot of rugby, but then there’s the debate about not changing a winning team and wanting to use that momentum from the Bristol game.
“Did we get that right?
“I don’t know, speaking so soon after the game, but we’ll have to sit down and pick through it because these are all important decisions and we need to be getting them right.”
Crediting Sunday’s victors, who had put 51 points past champions Leicester Tigers the week before, Walder said: “Saracens are a really good, well-coached side with loads of superstars, but even taking all of that into consideration we’re extremely disappointed with what we put out there today.
“We gave them a 14-point start after six or seven minutes, and against a side as good as them it’s extremely hard to come back from that.
“They showed why they’re the top team in the league because they’re completely ruthless, and really clinical in everything they do. They’re moving the ball more than they have done in recent years, they’ve got a great recruitment strategy which allows them to add to what they’ve got and they’re really well-drilled.
“Today wasn’t a representation of what we’re about. We weren’t good enough at what we wanted to do and we gave them too many ins. We didn’t challenge them, our carrying was too passive, we didn’t look we had any energy about us and as a coaching group we have to look at why that was.
“You can quibble about the odd refereeing call or whatever, but when you lose by as much as we did today you can’t look to that as the reason for the defeat. It’s all about ourselves, how we started the game and why we were so sluggish against the best team in the league.
“What did we get wrong as coaches, and how do we make sure we don’t make the same mistakes again?
“We’ve got a six-day turnaround to Northampton away so we don’t have a huge amount of time, but maybe there’s an element of freshening up needed to the team or looking at changing how we’re doing certain things.”
Asked about the red card handed out to Mako Vunipola for a no-arms clear-out on Tom Penny, the Falcons boss said: “In the modern game it’s probably a red card, and once they start slowing things down on the big screen they never look great.
“The real question is why you would ever feel the need to clear somebody out like that in a game, but Mako shook hands with Tom Penny and Mateo Carreras when he got sent off so I don’t think there was any bad feeling or real damage done, thankfully.
“By then the game was gone for us, we were just trying to chase a bonus point but we were too far off to make that happen in the time we had remaining, which is really disappointing.”
Newcastle Falcons’ next home game is on Saturday November 5 when Bath make the Gallagher Premiership trip to Kingston Park Stadium.
Click here to buy tickets for the 3pm kick-off.
Source – Newcastle Falcons Rugby
Sale Sharks can confirm that fly-half George Ford suffered a tear to his right quad during the early stages of the Gallagher Premiership round two game at Saracens on Saturday. Following a positive consultation with a specialist it was decided that George does not require surgery and he will now begin his rehab ahead of a busy period for club and country.
Images & Content from Sale Sharks Rugby
Alex Sanderson has made six changes to his starting XV to face Gloucester Rugby in the first game of the season under the Salford Stadium Friday night lights, while summer signing Le Roux Roets appears in a matchday squad for the first time (Discovery+, 7.45pm KO).
Josh Beaumont, Ernst van Rhyn and Rouban Birch come into the pack following the round two defeat at Saracens, while Sam Bedlow, Will Addison and Arron Reed are picked in the backs to face George Skivington’s men.
In total, 12 of the XV and 19 in the matchday 23 have come through or spent time in the Sharks Academy.
The Sharks front-row remains intact from the trip to the StoneX as England hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie lines up once again between 20-year-old Asher Opoku-Fordjour and loosehead Si McIntyre.
Al has picked a towering second-row as Ben Bamber teams up with Josh Beaumont.
With Ben and Tom Curry as well as JL du Preez all missing as they undergo their return to play protocols following head injuries, Ernst van Rhyn returns alongside fellow flanker Sam Dugdale and Birch at number 8.
Gus Warr starts again at scrum-half but with George Ford injured (quad) he’ll have skipper Rob du Preez for company at half-back. After coming on as a replacement against Saracens, Bedlow starts alongside Addison, who makes his first start since re-joining the club in the summer.
Speedster Arron Reed makes his first appearance of the season alongside Tom Roebuck and full-back Joe Carpenter.
Hooker Ethan Caine, and props Tumy Onasanya and James Harper cover the front row from the replacements bench with England U20s lock Tom Burrow and summer signing Le Roux Roets covering the rest of the forwards. Nye Thomas, Tom Curtis and Waisea Nayacalevu cover the backs.
Sale Sharks starting XV:
15. Joe Carpenter, 14. Tom Roebuck, 13. Will Addison, 12. Sam Bedlow, 11. Arron Reed, 10. Rob du Preez, 9. Gus Warr; 1. Si McIntyre, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3. Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 4. Ben Bamber, 5. Josh Beaumont 6. Ernst van Rhyn, 7. Sam Dugdale, 8. Rouban Birch.
Replacements:
16. Ethan Caine, 17. Tumy Onasanya, 18. James Harper, 19. Tom Burrow, 20. Le Roux Roets, 21. Nye Thomas, 22. Tom Curtis, 23. Waisea Nayacalevu.
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Injuries have forced Alex Sanderson to make three changes to his starting XV to face Saracens at the StoneX on Saturday (3.05pm KO, Saturday 28th September, live on TNT Sports).
Si McIntyre replaces last week’s Player of the Match Bevan Rodd (hamstring), while Ben Bamber and Sam Dugdale come in for Ernst van Rhyn and Tom Curry who are both undergoing their return to play protocols after leaving the field during the round one win over Harlequins.
With Sam Bedlow returning to the bench to make a 5-3 split, the matchday squad features 16 players who have come through or been involved with the Sale Sharks Academy.
In the front-row, England hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie lines up between 20-year-old Asher Opoku-Fordjour and returning loosehead McIntyre.
Al has picked a towering second-row as Bamber teams up with Hyron Andrews.
Openside flanker Ben Curry captains the side again and he and Dugdale will pack down either side of Jean-Luc du Preez at number 8.
The backs are unchanged from the narrow win over Quins, with Gus Warr starting again at scrum-half alongside fly-half George Ford, and Rob du Preez and Waisea Nayacalevu outside them in the centres.
Alex has picked a familiar back three once again with Tom O’Flaherty, Tom Roebuck and full-back Joe Carpenter hoping to provide the spark.
The replacements bench is an exclusively Sharks Academy affair with hooker Ethan Caine, and props Tumy Onasanya and James Harper covering the front row. Josh Beaumont and Rouban Birch make up the rest of the forwards, while Nye Thomas, Bedlow and Will Addison cover the backs.
Sale Sharks Starting lineup:
15. Joe Carpenter, 14. Tom Roebuck, 13. Waisea Nayacalevu, 12. Rob du Preez, 11. Tom O’Flaherty, 10. George Ford, 9. Gus Warr; 1. Si McIntyre, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3. Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 4. Ben Bamber, 5. Hyron Andrews, 6. Sam Dugdale, 7. Ben Curry ©, 8. Jean-Luc du Preez.
Replacements:
16. Ethan Caine, 17. Tumy Onasanya, 18. James Harper, 19. Josh Beaumont, 20. Rouban Birch, 21. Nye Thomas, 22. Sam Bedlow, 23. Will Addison.
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