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Newcastle Falcons head coach Dave Walder was in raptures after his side ended a four-year winless run against Leicester Tigers with a dominant 45-26 victory.
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Mateo Carreras was at his mesmeric best, scoring three of the Falcons’ six tries but Walder believes the entire team played their part in a memorable triumph.
Callum Chick, Jamie Blamire and Matias Moroni were also on the scoresheet for the Falcons, who have now won each of their last three Gallagher Premiership fixtures at Kingston Park and their upturn in form means they sit just five points off the top four.
“I think the pleasing thing was our attitude from 1 to 23 from the start to the end,” said Walder.
“We fought really well at key moments when the game was in the balance. I thought we were composed, but our attitude and our fight was absolutely bang on today.
“We played the game in the right areas, controlled the tempo that we wanted to play at, and our defence was pretty comfortable making decisions across the board.
“Our forwards have been fronting up week in, week out and they gave us a great platform to play off today.”
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It was a great day for the Falcons’ Argentine contingent, with Moroni and Matias Orlando superb in midfield and Carreras unstoppable in attack.
Carreras’ third score was another for his personal highlight reel, an 80-metre breakaway try, but rather than singling out the wing wizard, Walder was quick to praise his entire back unit.
“Mateo will get the headlines for his unbelievable finishes, but the two Argentinians in the centre gave us a bit of defensive solidity,” added Walder.
“I think as a combination across the board we all put our hand up today and I think everybody had a good game which is ultimately what you need against Leicester.”
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It was another difficult afternoon for interim Tigers boss Richard Wigglesworth, who watched his side concede 40 on the road for the second consecutive week.
They did leave with a bonus point thanks to Sean Jansen’s overtime score after earlier tries from Ben Youngs, Ollie Chessum and Jimmy Gopperth, but, for Wigglesworth, the Tigers’ ill-discipline was his biggest concern.
“We had discipline issues and then we didn’t get into good positions in defence,” explained Wigglesworth.
“So you put those two things together and you’re going to concede points against a good team.
“We put ourselves under too much pressure.
“We’ll be making sure our discipline’s better than it has been over the last couple of weeks.
“I’m proud that we didn’t go away, we showed some fight to get back in, and got the reward of a point.
“But that’s only a small consolation on what is not a great day for us.”
