FIRST TEAM
MICKY WARD REACTS TO QUINS CUP CLASH
Micky Ward believes his Newcastle Red Bulls side will have learned valuable lessons from Saturday’s 45-33 loss to Harlequins.
The PREM Rugby Cup clash at Kingston Park saw the Red Bulls giving valuable game time to a number of their squad, earning the consolation of a four-try bonus point from the defeat.
Speaking afterwards, scrum coach Ward said: “As always the lads put everything into the game, and we created a lot of opportunities.
“We took our foot off the throat too easily in terms of allowing turnovers and not finishing our opportunities.
“We had to work incredibly hard for our tries but we conceded a number of soft ones, and it’s always going to be tough from there.
“We never gave up, which is one good thing you can always say about this group. We stayed in the fight, got two tries to pull it back and from that point the comeback was on.
“We didn’t quite bring it home from that position, but there’ll be some good learnings we can take.”
Ward added: “It was disappointing that Mason Flesch had to go off through injury, because I thought he’d had a good game up until that point.
“James Harper on the tight-head side came in and did what we asked of him, Jake Dalziel had a good second half and Rhys Beeckmans was dangerous when we got him on the ball, to name just a few.
“We scored some good tries but we just weren’t able to keep the pressure on, and that was the difference in the end.”
Set to host Northampton Saints next weekend as the Gallagher PREM takes a five-week breather, Ward said: “Some lads who haven’t had much rugby have come in and had an opportunity at this level, and it’s finding that balance at this time of year in terms of recharging your senior players without allowing them to go rusty.
“Like I say it’s also an opportunity to develop your next group, all within the bigger picture of wanting to compete and win games.
“It’s never an easy balance but we’ve got another home game on Saturday against Northampton, and we want to start winning again for our supporters.”
