Newcastle Falcons keeping feet on ground

Aug 21 2011 by Mark Smith, Sunday Sun

ALAN TAIT insisted his Newcastle Falcons side will not be getting too carried away despite hammering last season’s relegation rivals Leeds Carnegie 36-5 in pre-season action.

Friday’s Kingston Park clash was the second of the Falcons’ three friendly matches going into the new Aviva Premiership season, which starts at home to Bath a week on Saturday.

But having seen his side cross the whitewash six times in an entertaining 80 minutes of attacking rugby, the head coach said: “The tries pleased me, for starters, because that is something we struggled with last season.

“The open play and the handling in the backs is coming to fruition, and the way that the forwards inter-linked with that is something we have been working hard at.

“There were a lot of pleasing things overall, and I was really happy, but there is still plenty we can improve on.”

Highlighting those areas, Tait said: “Towards the end of the game we over-committed to some breakdowns, and then not enough to others, which Leeds exploited, so there are still things to work on.

“We can improve plenty on that performance, and I know our front-row coach Micky Ward, for one, is champing at the bit to get into the lads, because he wasn’t happy with the scrums.