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| Hayman Starts Against Connacht |
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| Carl Hayman makes his first start for the Falcons in Galway |
| 5 December 2007, 1:39 pm |
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| All Black prop Carl Hayman makes his first start in a Newcastle shirt on Friday, as the Falcons make five changes for their European Challenge Cup trip to Irish province Connacht (kick-off 6.30pm). |
Hayman forms part of a new-look front row as fellow All Black Joe McDonnell and hooker Andy Long all come in to the side, with David Wilson rested for the match.
The only other personnel change in the pack sees Brent Wilson take the place of Andy Perry, with the ensuing reshuffle meaning a switch to the second row for Geoff Parling as Wilson packs down on the blindside flank.
There is just one change to the back line as Hall Charlton comes in for the rested James Grindal, while on the bench there is a return for fit-again No.8 Russell Winter.
Speaking about the full debut of All Black prop Hayman, director of rugby, John Fletcher, said: “Carl played 40 minutes at Wasps last weekend after being in the country for four days and having only trained once with the team.
“I thought he made a good contribution even in those circumstances, and with the jet lag now out of his system and a good week of training under his belt we’re looking forward to seeing how he goes.”
With successive defeats at London Wasps going in to Friday’s encounter in Galway, he said: “We’re obviously disappointed with both results at Wasps, but there are aspects that we can take in to the Connacht game such as our set piece, which is in great shape at the moment.
“Over 160 minutes against an excellent Wasps side we lost only one line out, we scrummaged well for most of the time and we now have a solid platform in that area. Clearly there are improvements to be made to our game, but we are making progress.
“We dominated territory and possession in both matches, and that is a reasonable position to build from as we go in to what will be a very tough game in Galway. What we need to do is eliminate silly mistakes like turning the ball over, and we are working hard on that every day in training.”
Assessing the threat from Friday’s Irish opponents, Fletcher said: “Connacht are a good side who beat a Glasgow squad containing 14 internationals last weekend, so we are giving them the respect they deserve.
“They won that Glasgow game by four points but it could have been more, and then they ran a star-studded Leinster team very close in Dublin a couple of weeks ago too. We’ve watched a lot of them on video this season, and we know it will be a tough encounter because not many teams go to Ireland and win in European competition.”
Looking to the key battlegrounds, he added: “This is the strongest side that Connacht have ever had.
“They are a very well-coached team with good players, a nice mixture of youth and more experienced heads, so we know exactly what we’re up against and that it will be a ferocious battle.
“They have a game which is tough to play against, because it’s all about applying pressure. They kick the ball behind you a lot, they fly around and also we have a French referee, which could make it an interesting game in terms of the laws being applied.
“There’s always a wind in Galway, and even though the forecast for Friday says it will be reasonably dry we know the weather can be a factor, and we just have to deal with it as it happens.”
Newcastle Falcons team to face Connacht:
15 Mathew Tait
14 Tom May
13 Jamie Noon
12 Toby Flood
11 John Rudd
10 Jonny Wilkinson
9 Hall Charlton
1 Joe McDonnell
2 Andy Long
3 Carl Hayman
4 Geoff Parling
5 Mark Sorenson
6 Brent Wilson
7 Ben Woods
8 Phil Dowson (captain)
Replacements:
Matt Thompson
Micky Ward
Sean Tomes
Russell Winter
Lee Dickson
Steve Jones
Tim Visser
Not considered due to injury: Matthew Burke (knee), Ross Beattie (shoulder), James Hoyle (hip), Andy Buist (shoulder), Jon Golding (illness), Andy Perry (ribs). |
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