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Dickens rues second-half lapses
Head coach Alan Dickens admitted his frustration as Newcastle Red Bulls failed to build on a promising first half during Sunday’s 50-14 home loss to Gallagher PREM champions, Bath Rugby.
In front of another sell-out crowd Dickens’ men enjoyed first-half scores from Amanaki Mafi and Ollie Leatherbarrow, but a power-packed second half from the treble winners removed any doubt around the result.
Speaking afterwards, the Newcastle boss said: “Bath were very clinical and the strength of their squad was on full show, but I feel like we’re improving and we showed up well in parts.
“The big leap we need to make is turning chances into points, because we’re creating opportunities.
“The guys are all working really hard during the week, their attitude can’t be questioned, and we’re starting to see improvements.
“We scored two good tries in the first half and probably left a couple out there, which was one of the disappointing aspects.”
Dickens added: “Bath’s third try came at an important stage and looked like a clear neck roll on Tom Christie, but I’ll not cry too much about that.
“To go in to half-time a try down was a blow because I felt we were worth our lead, but Bath made it count on the scoreboard and you have to give them full credit for that.
“They’ve got an incredible squad and they run things very well, but I’m just focused on our own team, to be honest.
“We didn’t give ourselves a chance in the second half, we only had one entry and the line-out was not straight, and that’s where our attention has to go.
“Yes, we started strongly and the group are buying in to what we’re trying to do on the back of a couple of wins in Europe. It’s disappointing that we’ve not fully carried that forward into today, but we’ll get back to work and look to put in really professional performances at Bristol and at home to Gloucester.”
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