Newcastle Falcons grip the Premiership with 3rd consecutive victory

Newcastle Falcons ascend to second place on the overall standings with another notch on their remarkable winning streak.

Not much was expected from Dave Walder’s men when they began their campaign after being promoted from the Greene King IPA Championship, but they certainly have made a roaring challenge to the rest of the competition with three victories in a row.

In Round 1, the Falcons shocked everyone with a win over Bath at The Rec. Having participated in the semi-finals last year, Bath are no lightweights in the competition and it was a most valuable victory.

In the second round, Falcons faced Sale Sharks at Kingston Park, stunning Steve Diamond’s men with 15-13 win which was even more unexpected than the week before.

Then, anyone who was still content to spout notions of “beginners’ luck” had no choice but to be silenced after the Falcons downed last year’s finalists, Wasps, at the Ricoh Arena yesterday to make it three from three.

"The bubble will burst eventually but the whole idea is that it doesn't burst. We hope we just keep on going as long as we can,” said Dean Richards, Falcons’ director of rugby.

"Wasps had a couple of chances they might have taken but overall we probably deserved it and it was overall a fair reflection.

"The boys were just as committed as they have been over the last two weeks. It's all about work rate, team spirit and just getting out there and doing it."

Work rate and team spirit are clearly two factors that the Newcastle are not lacking in with every player visibly pulling more than his weight week in and while out while the overall mood of the camp seems to ooze comradery and positivity.

The teams both managed three converted tries yesterday while England international Toby Flood knocked over another three penalties. Things were relatively even in terms of possession and territory, Falcons enjoying 52% and 51% respectively.

"We're gutted,” said Wasps coach Lee Blackett. “Plenty of aspects of our game were off. Our basics let us down, our execution was nowhere near up to standard and we gave them a try with an interception.

"We had a lot of things happen in the week. There's been a lot of enforced chopping and changing. We just haven't had any sense of continuity. There's a lot of little things we need to work on.

"We're not going to panic. We'll have our internationals for the European game with Dragons next week, then they'll have a couple of weeks off, but we have to see that as a bit of a reset button. It won't take much to switch it back on again."

Bath, Sale and Wasps on consecutive weekends would have made any team in the competition nervous, but Falcons have cruised through challenges with aplomb. Their progress in the coming rounds will be keenly observed from all quarters.