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Dean Richards name checks backrow hero after shock win over Exeter

By PA
(Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Newcastle director of rugby Dean Richards hailed captain Will Welch after the Falcons stunned Exeter by winning at Sandy Park for the very first time.

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A 72nd-minute penalty by replacement fly-half Brett Connon sealed a 15-14 success and sent the Chiefs to a third defeat in four home games.

“I thought Welchy captained the team extremely well, he threw a lot into it all, he got some crucial turnovers at the right time and he led by example throughout the whole game and was probably my man of the match – but it is difficult to pick out one from all 23 to be honest,” said a delighted Richards.

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Newcastle took the lead with an eighth-minute George McGuigan try but Exeter levelled right on half-time with a converted try by Joe Simmonds.

“We made a good start but in the last two or three minutes of the first half we allowed Exeter to come back in, but we talked about the positives at the break and there were so many of them that the boys came out quite buoyed up for the second half.

“We showed in the final two minutes of the match how committed we were to it, with everybody throwing their body on the line,” added Richards.

Newcastle have had some torrid games at Sandy Park in the past so Richards was thrilled to finally come away with a win from the long journey south.

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“We are delighted. There are a lot of boys who haven’t won here before, and may never again, so it is a key moment in a lot of boys’ careers but at the same time you park it and look forward to the next game.”

Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter found himself having to talk about another home defeat in a strange season where the Chiefs have also picked up three fine wins on the road so far.

“It is starting to get frustrating, not just for me but the players as well. I thought against London Irish we weren’t where we needed to be emotionally, but I don’t think that was so much the case today,” he said.

“I don’t think we have not worked hard, or not turned up, or not had a desperation to win, we just haven’t been able to pull the game together in lots of individual ways.

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“Our game had individual mistakes, it had collective mistakes, and it had errors in pretty much every area of the game, in attack, in defence or around set-piece.

“The one good thing is we have only conceded 15 points, and at home you would expect to win a game when you do that, but we haven’t managed to roll the scoreboard up high enough to get over that hurdle either.”

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Hellhound 53 minutes ago
South Africa player ratings | 2024 Autumn Nations Series

There is this thing going around against Siya Kolisi where they don't want him to be known as the best national captain ever, so they strike him down in ratings permanently whenever they can. They want McCaw and reckons he is the best captain ever. I disagree.


Just like they refuse to see SA as the best team and some have even said that should the Boks win a third WC in a row, they will still not be the best team ever. Even if they win every game between now and the WC. That is some serious hate coming SA's way.


Everyone forget how the McCaw AB's intimidated refs, was always on the wrong side, played on the ground etc. Things they would never have gotten away with today. They may have a better win ratio, but SA build depth, not caring about rank inbetween WC's until this year.


They weren't as bad inbetween as people claim, because non e of their losses was big ones and they almost never faced the strongest Bok team outside of the WC, allowing countries like France and Ireland to rise to the top unopposed.


Rassie is still at it, building more depth, getting more young stars into the fold. By the time he leaves (I hope never) he will leave a very strong Bok side for the next 15- 20 years. Not everyone will play for 20 years, but each year Rassie acknowledge the young stars and get them involved and ready for international rugby.


Not everyone will make it to the WC, but those 51/52 players will compete for those spots for the WC. They will deliver their best. The future of the Boks is in very safe hands. The only thing that bothers me is Rassie's health. If he can overcome it, rugby looks dark for the rest of the rugby world. He is already the greatest coach in WR history. By the time he retires, he will be the biggest legend any sport has ever seen

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J
JW 1 hour ago
'They smelt it': Scott Robertson says Italy sensed All Blacks' vulnerability

No where to be seen OB!


The crosses for me for the year where (from memory);


This was a really hard one to nail down as the first sign of a problem, now that I've asked myself to think about it. I'd say it all started with his decision to not back form and fit players after all the injuries, and/or him picking players for the future, rather ones that could play right now.


First he doesn't replace Perofeta straight away (goes on for months in the team) after injury against England, second he falls back to Beauden Barrett to cover at fullback against Fiji, then he drops Narawa the obvious choice to have started, then he brings in Jordan too soon. That Barret selection (and to a lesser extent Bell's) set the tone for the year.


Then he didn't get the side up for Argentina. They were blown away and didn't look like they expected a fight and were well beaten despite the scoreline in my opinion. Worst performance of the year in the forth game and..


Basically the same problems were persistent, or even exaggerated, after that with the players he did select not given much of an opportunity, with this year having the most number of unused subs I can remember since the amateur days.


What I think I started to realise early on was that he didn't back himself and his team. I think he prepared the players well, don't get me wrong, but I'll credit him with making a conscious choice in tempering his ambition and instead choosing cohesion and to respect (the idea of it being important in himself and his players) experience first and foremost (after two tight games and that 4th game loss). I think he chose wrong in deciding not to be, and back, himself. Hard criticism.


And it played out by preferring Beauden to Dmac on the EOYT (though that may have been a planned move).


I hope I'm right, because going through all the little things of the season and coming up with these bullets, I've got to wonder when I say his last fault is one we have seen at the Crusaders, playing his best players into the ground. What I'm really scared of now is that not wanting a bit of freshness in this last game could be linked with all these other crosses that I want to put down to simple confidence issues. But are they really a sign that he just lacks vision?


Now, that's not to say I haven't seen a lot of positives as well, I just think that for the ABs to go where they want to go he has to fix these crosses. Just have difficult that will be is the question.

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