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DICKENS DISAPPOINTED BY DRAGONS LOSS
Newcastle Red Bulls head coach Alan Dickens admitted his disappointment at ending the EPCR Challenge Cup pool phase in defeat, even though his side will have a home tie in the round of 16.
Friday’s 35-12 loss at the Dragons saw the Red Bulls letting slip a half-time lead in a second period which included three sin-binnings and a penalty try, Dickens saying: “This wasn’t a dead rubber to us, even though we’d already secured a home tie in the round of 16 after winning our first three games.
“We wanted a higher seeding to gain home advantage in the later rounds if we make it through that far, so we’re bitterly disappointed with this result.
“Credit to the Dragons because they were clinical – we lost the kicking battle and didn’t have a territorial foot-hold in the game.
“It’s tough to play from deep, especially with men in the sin bin, and we were definitely on the wrong end of the penalty count.
Dickens added: “The Dragons came hard at our defensive maul and got some in-roads there, and our forwards will be disappointed by that because we’d been making some gains there recently.
“These are all areas where we’ll have to sharpen up quickly because Saracens next week will test us there, but there were a couple of positives.”
“We were pretty sharp in the backs with a couple of well-taken tries towards the end of the first half, and we absorbed a lot of pressure in that half to go in ahead at the break.
“Ultimately we weren’t able to hang in there and get field position, but I’ve got every confidence we’ll do the work that is needed to get us right for Sarries next weekend.”
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