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'Glasgow have got half the Scotland team' - Newcastle slash ticket prices
By Ian Cameron
Newcastle Falcons have slashed the price of their tickets for the arrival of Glasgow Warriors to Kingston Park Stadium.
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Tickets are now priced just £10 for adults and £5 for under-16s for the EPCR Challenge Cup Round of 16 clash.
The sides go into Friday’s 8pm kick-off knowing that either Lyon or Worcester Warriors await the winner in the quarter-finals.
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Despite picking up a pre-season victory against the Scots, head coach Dave Walder is expecting a very different game in the regular season fixture.
“Glasgow have got half the Scotland team playing for them, with quality players outside of those boys, and it’ll be a great test,” said Walder. “We won up there in a pre-season game with the last play of the game, but you can’t take too much from those friendlies. We know they’re a well-drilled side with quality players, but those are the kinds of challenges you want when you have knockout European rugby at your home ground.
“The club have reduced the ticket prices to £10 for adults and £5 for juniors, which should hopefully help make it a great atmosphere, and Glasgow are actually one of our nearest professional opponents along with Edinburgh and Sale. I’m sure they’ll bring a decent support with them over the border, and there’ll be that real sense of occasion for what is a really important game.”
Eighteen out of the match-day 23, including 12 of Newcastle’s starting 15, have had an involvement with the club’s academy.
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Falcons struggled to a narrow 25 – 22 home victory over Zebre Parma last weekend, a performance Walder is keen to bounce back from.
“We were disappointed with how we played against Zebre, although obviously pleased to have got the win and home advantage.
“I put it down to a bit of complacency from the whole group, coaches included, and we take collective responsibility. We’d had a big win down at Worcester the week before, having gone so long in the Premiership without one, and having performed so well that day I think we maybe took our eye off the ball a bit and took some things for granted.
“You obviously can’t afford to do that at this level, and I’m sure it won’t have been consciously, but it’s just a reminder for all of us that you need to pay full attention to those basics every single game. Ultimately we managed to pull through and get the home draw which everyone is really excited about, and it should be a great occasion on Friday.
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“It’s exciting, it’s been a bit last-minute in terms of not finding out who we were going to play until six days before the game, and that’s shaken things up in terms of how we’ve been able to prepare. That’s good, though – it keeps everyone on their toes and it’s important we go as far as we can, both for the supporters and ourselves.
“It’s straight knockout rugby now, and nobody is worrying about things like bonus points, our points difference or trying to get score updates from other games.
“Last Saturday at various points I think we were off to Worcester, then Lyon, then Glasgow, then Northampton or Wasps, and nobody really knew right up until the final whistle. Ultimately we know we just have to beat Glasgow on Friday night, the winner goes forward and takes it from there. It’s nice and simple in terms of the permutations, although it will obviously be a great test against a good Glasgow outfit.”
NEWCASTLE FALCONS: 15 Tom Penny, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 George Wacokecoke, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Ben Stevenson, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Louis Schreuder; 1 Adam Brocklebank, 2 George McGuigan, 3 Trevor Davison, 4 Greg Peterson, 5 Sean Robinson, 6 Josh Basham, 7 Will Welch (captain), 8 Freddie Lockwood.
REPLACEMENTS: 16 Jamie Blamire, 17 Kyle Cooper, 18 Mark Tampin, 19 Will Montgomery, 20 Tom Marshall, 21 Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti, 22 Joel Hodgson, 23 Iwan Stephens.
