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| Bates Praises Youngsters In Defeat |
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| Mark Sorenson thanks the fans for their support throughout the season |
| 7 May 2008, 11:21 pm |
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| Falcons boss Steve Bates was philosophical after seeing his Newcastle side go down 32-13 to Guinness Premiership title hopefuls London Wasps at Kingston Park. |
Praising an abrasive first-half performance and rueing two controversial second-half tries for the visitors, the acting director of rugby gave his team a seven out of ten mark for their evening's work.
“We were really competitive for the first 60 minutes, especially given the side we had out with a lot of youngsters involved against what was a full-strength Wasps outfit,” said Bates.
“Given those circumstances I thought it was a promising start, and I think we have to have a look at the video of their last two tries.
“For the first one we were attacking under their posts, the ball miraculously appears on their side of the ruck, two forward passes later and Paul Sackey runs it in.
“The last try was as clear a case of obstruction as you will ever see, and I wasn't aware that we were playing the new laws before next season. I didn't realise you could now run a blocking line right in front of people without the ball.
“Both of those decisions cost us 14 points which ultimately put Wasps beyond reach, but I'm very proud of the boys for the way they played in the first hour and stuck to their task.”
With the Falcons using their squad to the full as they cope with the demands of three games in six days, Bates said: “There are a lot of young guys in that changing room who will have learnt an awful lot from tonight's experience, against what was a very physical Wasps team going for the Guinness Premiership title.
“Wasps played with a lot of intensity and contact at the breakdown, and we can learn a few lessons from that.
“It was very disappointing to lose Alex Tait so early on, because I thought he had started the game brilliantly but just took quite a nasty bang to the head putting in a tackle.
“The inexperience and lack of a bit of composure on the Premiership stage did really tell on a couple of occasions and they were struggling to keep up with the pace at times, but they will learn from that and I'm confident they will be better players as a result of this exposure to top-class rugby.”
Trailing by just two points at the break, Bates added: “Wasps put out a very strong side, and in the first half I felt that the exchanges were pretty even upfront.
“As the game went on and we introduced some more inexperienced players a few holes started to appear, and it didn't help that Wasps started to get some assistance from certain quarters in a few key incidents.
“But that's rugby, and if you can get away with it then good luck to you.”
With a trip to Worcester on Saturday to end the season, Bates stated ahead of his team selection: “We'll have a head count on Thursday, see who's still standing and then hopefully find 15 names to put on the team sheet for Worcester after what has been a massive week with two big home games in three days.” |
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