Steve Diamond insists his Falcons will not finish bottom of the Premiership this season but with last season’s also-rans Gloucester recording a shock win against Bristol Bears on Friday night – Christian Wade grabbing a hat-trick to secure a dramatic 44-41 win at Ashton Gate – Newcastle are bottom of the table on zero points having conceded seven tries, and scored just three.
They welcome Leicester to Kingston Park on Saturday followed by a trip to Sale but Diamond remains confident that they will avoid a relegation play-off against the Championship winners.
“One thing is for sure – we won’t finish bottom of the league,” he said. “At the moment we feel we can get to the 60th minute in any game and be competitive but then it’s about our bench and we know we haven’t got the strength in depth of other teams.”
Diamond boosted his coaching team this week with former England scrum-half Lee Dickson. The ex-Newcastle and Northampton player, capped 18 times by England, will combine being a skills coach for the Falcons with his role as master in charge of rugby at Barnard Castle School.
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