Bates denies end of season blues
Tue, 06 May 2008 16:19
Newcastle Falcons boss Steve Bates insists his team are ready for their second outing in just four days on Wednesday, as London Wasps make the Guinness Premiership trip to Kingston Park.
With the game coming on the back of Sunday's dramatic 28-25 victory over league champions Leicester Tigers, acting director of rugby, Bates, said: "We have now seen the level of performance that we are capable of, and the big thing to work on is achieving a level of consistency in that regard."
Having implemented a pragmatic gameplan aimed at being more selective in using the width, Bates explained: "We played with a lot more structure rather than trying to build from chaotic foundations, and that was backed up by the fact that the periods where we struggled during the game were the times when we started the fling the ball around willy-nilly.
"During those periods we tried to play from too deep inside our own half, but for much of
the game we realised that we needed to get ourselves down in to the right areas, and only then can we really start to move the ball around.
"Appreciating that reality of rugby is a major change of mindset for a lot of these players and it doesn't happen straightaway, but on Sunday I thought we took a big step forward.
"The next major goal is to learn to play away from home, and I think a lot of the things we are applying to our game, such as keeping it tight and playing more territory, will have a significant impact next season when we are on the road.
"What we already do have, and which is a vital ingredient of any successful side, is an outstanding team ethic.
"The players really want to work hard for one another and put their bodies on the line, and if we can add more of a streetwise resilience to that week in, week out, then we can make ourselves an extremely tough team to beat," added Bates.
With three
games in just six days to content with, and no honours left to play for, the Falcons have resisted the temptation to start thinking of the off-season already, and Bates insists nothing is further from his side's mind now.
"If you'd asked people that question on Sunday lunchtime with Leicester and Wasps still to play in the space of four days and a trip to Worcester, you could be forgiven for having a feeling of 'let's just get this week out of the way'," he said.
"But given what happened on Sunday there is now a real buzz among the place, and everyone is keen to get back out there.
"We have a good bunch of players, and I believe the way we are now asking them to play will really get the best out of them.
"As we saw against Leicester we are very capable of competing with the very best sides, and when you look at the team we beat at the weekend it was basically an International Select XV.
"Wasps now come up here at a
time when we are really confident, but like Leicester they are a class side and will provide extremely tough opposition for us," added Bates.
As a former Wasp himself, Bates said: "I was in a hugely privileged position to play most of my career at Wasps, and I loved every minute of it.
"They are a club for whom I have an enormous amount of affection, I still have a lot of friends there and I'm looking forward to locking horns with them on Wednesday.
"I was there for about 15 years in total, and I was even in the side when a young Lawrence Dallaglio first started playing for them which, given that he is retiring shortly, makes me feel pretty old!," he quipped.
With flyhalf Jonny Wilkinson among those absent from the Falcons' team sheet for Wednesday, Bates explained: "Going in to the Leicester game having played at Worcester the previous Friday, that game took a lot out of him and he did very little training prior to Sunday's
match.
"That Leicester game was a huge physical contest, especially for Jonny [Wilkinson] with the way he plays.
"We just thought there was very little to be gained by putting him through another similar match in the space of four days given that he already needs an operation at the end of the season, and it was a reasonably straightforward decision.
"We'll keep an eye on it maybe with the Worcester game in mind on Saturday, but even then we might just decide to give some of the younger guys a run and allow Jonny to go in to his operation without playing another game," added Bates.
One name making its first appearance on the Falcons team sheet is that of No.8 Peter Browne, the Durham University student who has starred for the Falcons academy this season.
"Pete [Browne] is one of the many talented young guys coming through the system at the moment, and he is a player who excites me a lot," said Bates.
"He has played well for England Students, scoring a try on Saturday for them at Twickenham, and he's also gone well for our Development Team all season. He is a naturally athletic player, a big strong physical presence and I have a very high regard for him.
"Wednesday represents a chance for him to find out what Premiership rugby is all about, and I'm very confident that he will rise to the occasion.
"I think he is the type of player who can excite the fans with the way he plays, and I would also put Micky Young in that category at scrumhalf along with a number of others," Bates explained.
With former Scotland loose forward Ross Beattie making what was effectively a second home debut in Sunday's win over Leicester, Bates said of his former Falcons and Borders charge: "Ross is essentially a new signing for this club, and he did a lot of eye-catching things on Sunday which really impressed me.
"He is a tremendously
competitive individual, and I have a lot of high hopes for him next season when he gets fully match fit and has a number of games under his belt.
"He could be a real force at this level, he knows what it's all about and when you speak to him he is so passionate about making a contribution to this club," concluded Bates.
