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Sam Cross one of two internationals on 15-man Newcastle exit list

Falcons player Sam Cross in action during the Gallagher Premiership Rugby match between Newcastle Falcons and Northampton Saints at Kingston Park on October 29, 2023 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Flanker Sam Cross is one of 15 players that will leave Newcastle Falcons at the end of the season, the club have confirmed in their list of leavers.

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The two-cap Wales flanker is joined by another international, Argentina centre Matias Moroni, in leaving Kingston Park.

Cross joined Newcastle last summer from the Ospreys on a two-year deal and has become a mainstay in the squad, but will not be part of Steve Diamond’s plans moving forward.

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    Argentina’s 80-cap international Moroni has spent the last two seasons at Newcastle after arriving from Leicester Tigers.

    The 31-year-old Cross and the 33-year-old Moroni are also joined by younger members of the squad in leaving the club, with Phil Brantingham, 22, and Louie Johnson, 20, already agreeing moves to Saracens, and Guy Pepper, 21, set to join Bath.

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    The other ten departures are: Josh Barton, Sam Clark, Mark Dormer, Rory Jennings, Charlie Maddison, Vereimi Qorowale, Iwan Stephens, Josh Thomas, Michael van Vuuren and George Wacokecoke.

    “I would like to thank all of the players who are leaving us for their contribution during their time at Newcastle Falcons, and wish them all the best for the future,” said chairman of rugby Matt Thompson.

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    “It has been a tough season but the lads can be proud of the attitude and work ethic they have shown, and I wish them every success for whatever they have ahead of them.”

    “It’s always hard saying goodbye to popular and talented members of our playing group, a number of whom have been here for a long time and made a great contribution.

    “We are already well on with putting together our squad for next season and beyond, with Steve Diamond in charge of what will be a highly competitive group. Our supporters have been fantastic in their backing of the club, and I’m sure they’ll be equally generous in showing their appreciation for the players who are moving on.”

    The departing cohort of Falcons players have one final chance to taste victory this weekend having gone the entire Gallagher Premiership season without a win.

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    Newcastle head to Kingsholm on Saturday to play Gloucester, who sit only one place above them in the table. The Cherry and Whites are in the Challenge Cup final the week later and are coming off a 90-0 loss to Northampton Saints, meaning this could be Newcastle’s best opportunity to register a win all season in their final outing.

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    SM 1 hour ago
    Where is the new breed of All Black 10?

    NZ Rugby high performance has fallen behind, it used to pump out more quality 10s than it had teams for. Now there are no international quality players coming through the system and the players that are coming through are not getting enough quality minutes driving teams on the field.


    JOC was a great pick up for the Crusaders.


    Both Rivez and Taha have a lot of potential and some mentoring from a player like JOC could bring their game management, tactical kicking and dealing with the pressure of being the driver of a Super Rugby team at a young age as he has been through it and made a few mistakes in his younger years.


    This old school view that NZR has about not selecting any players from overseas is an 80s amateur view.


    The ABs don't need to pick the whole squad from overseas but if the had 2-3 players that had already put in some time in Super Rugby it benifits both the ABs and the next level of talent that can build skills in Super Rugby rather than be lost to Japan, the UK or France.


    NZR is losing sponsors and players are leaving for the extra dollars earlier in their careers now.


    Professional careers are short and the NZR sabbaticals don't cut it anymore for the top elite AB players.


    The Japanese League One teams want the big ticket international players for longer contracts to develop more Japan eligible players by playing with these top tier international players for their future and to make a quality depth pool of players for the Japan national team to be higher ranked internationally.


    NZR need to get a professional attitude as the current lip service they give makes them look like a 3 ring circus and the ABs slide further from the top the longer this short sighted amateur thinking forms their decisions on key areas which holts professionalism moving forward for rugby in NZ.

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