First Team
MCFARLAND PLEASED AFTER TIGERS TRIUMPH
Head coach Dan McFarland was delighted with the continued progress of his Newcastle Red Bulls side following Saturday’s 36-24 victory at Leicester Tigers.
The PREM Rugby Cup triumph put the Red Bulls’ record at four from four going into the new Gallagher PREM season, with the Newcastle boss saying: “I’m really pleased for the lads because they worked hard for that.
“I thought we did a lot of good stuff on the pitch, we started the game well and played with the kind of energy and optimism that we have been talking about throughout the summer.
“Leicester were always going to bring physicality and we had to match that, so it was great to see the guys weathering a couple of storms.
“We got our offloading game going and moved the ball well, our aerial work was a lot better and we had to close out the result in the end.”
McFarland added: “Welford Road is always a difficult place to come.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to have a few good wins here previously in my career, and they’re a tough team to play against in whatever competition.
“The lads deserved that result today for the work that they’ve put in and the ambition they put out there on the park.
“We’ll definitely take learnings from it, and it was far from the finished article.
“We invited pressure on ourselves in a few instances, which we need to get out of our game. We’ll look to tidy that up before we go out there again, but all in all it’s a really encouraging starting point for the league season to come."
Travelling to Northampton Saints on the league's opening night, the Newcastle boss said: “If you could set up a script for a new group of players going away to the champions in round one, it couldn’t be any better.
“I absolutely love that as a storyline, and it will get the juices flowing for us and our supporters I’m sure.”
