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DICKENS: WE'LL LEARN FROM THIS
Head coach Alan Dickens believes his Newcastle Red Bulls young guns will have learned from the experience, but admitted Friday’s home loss to Saracens had come as a disappointment.
A rain-soaked PREM Rugby Cup encounter saw the Londoners winning 35-12 on the night, with Dickens admitting two tries either side of the interval cost his team dear.
“It should have been 7-all at half-time but they got that try with the last play to go in 14-7 up, and we need to be better than that,” said the Red Bulls boss.
“They went through our centre channel, and straight after half-time they regathered a kick and put themselves two scores up. It was always going to be hard from there, and those big moments really cost us.
“We did have 10 to 15 minutes towards the end where we started to string some phases together and played some good stuff, but it’s obviously disappointing to have been so far behind by the time we did that.”
Finding some positives as a host of youngsters showed their credentials, Dickens said: “The good thing was we had a lot of guys making their first-team debuts or first starts, and a young player in Reuben Parsons captaining the team.
“He has come through our academy and is only in his second year out of school – he’s led the side exceptionally all week and I thought went well on the night.
“Finn Baker in the second row continues to do well and is improving with every game, and I thought Rhys Beeckmans in the centre stood up. Sam Waugh did well when he came on from the bench, as did George Bolam on his debut, and it was great to see Fraser Renwick get 35 minutes having worked so hard in training over the past few weeks.
“It bodes well to have that talent coming through and it was definitely a positive aspect on the night, but yeah it’s obviously disappointing not to get the result.
“We took a few injuries on the night and had to re-organise the team, but those are the challenges you have to take on at this level. Those early changes meant we didn’t have the fresh legs to bring on in the forwards later on, but it’s great experience for the lads and they will learn from having gone through it.”
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