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Newcastle fly-half Tom Catterick reckons the Falcons have nothing to fear from their European Rugby Challenge Cup rematch with Stade Francais on Thursday. - 10/12/2014 10:48
Newcastle fly-half Tom Catterick reckons the Falcons have nothing to fear from their European Rugby Challenge Cup rematch with Stade Francais on Thursday.
The Aviva Premiership side picked up a bonus-point thanks to a four-try win over the Parisians at Kingston Park last week.
With Newport Gwent Dragons keeping the pressure on in the race to qualify for the quarter-finals from Pool 3, Caterrick believes Dean Richards side can approach the rematch in France with confidence.
He said: “We cannot complain about three wins from three and we can only go across to France on Thursday and hopefully try and get another win. When the Stade team came out it wasn’t a case of ‘oh no’. It was ‘here we go boys, let’s really get stuck into them’.
“It’s always good to play against world class players and to know they’ve brought a team of that quality, to turn them over with quite a young squad that hasn’t played together for a while is really impressive.
“Playing Stade in Paris will mean a great atmosphere and hopefully they will put the same team out and we can really get into them again. To get a win over there while they’re playing at home would be something special.”
Newcastle as three points clear of the Dragons at the top of the pool while Stade will be eliminated if they suffer a third defeat from their four pool games.
Stade coach Gonzalo Quesada said: “The intention is for us to get a big result. As long as we have a mathematical chance of qualifying we are going to keep going.
“We cannot afford any mistakes but we can still try and get there. We have players looking to prove themselves and that means we have no shortage of desire.”
Match Facts
- Stade Francais Paris are enduring their worst run of form in the Challenge Cup having lost three of the last four games.
- Newcastle have not managed a win in their last five Challenge Cup games in France.
- Falcons' starting pack made 96 tackles against Stade last weekend, 15 more than the French side combined.
- Newcastle won 17 and lost just one of their lineouts in the Round 3 game at Kingston Park.
- Newcastle's Sean Robinson (45) and Chris Harris (44) rank first and second this season for tackles made in the Challenge Cup.
- Falcons have made more tackles per game (150) than any other side in this season's Challenge Cup.
- Stade's Australian wing, Digby Ioane, has made the third most metres (239) in this season's tournament.
- Morné Steyn has put boot to ball in open play 37 times to date this season, 11 more than any other player in the tournament.Newcastle have scored eight first half tries in the Challenge Cup this season; no club has managed more and this figure is twice the total number Stade have managed to date.
Déjà quasiment éliminés de cette phase de poule
Remi Bonfils clinched a 31-24 victory for Stade Francais against Newcastle Falcons that opened up the race for top spot in Pool 3.
The hooker touched down ten minutes from time – with the scores locked at 24-24 and both teams with a man in the sin bin – to settle an entertaining clash at Stade Jean Bouin. Bonfils was also at the heart of a dominant Stade scrum that ultimately proved the difference between the teams.
The French pack won a penalty try on the stroke of half-time to clinch a bonus point after tries by Krisnan Inu, Djibril Camara and Paul Williams. The result ended Stade’s worst run in Europe, following three defeats in four, while it also halted the Falcons unbeaten start.
Falcons threatened to pull off a potentially decisive win when Rory Clegg converted Mark Wilson’s try to level on 60 minutes and came close to a late equaliser. But Stade held out to maintain a slim hope of progressing while Falcons settled for a losing bonus.
Newcastle had not won in their previous five visits to France and made a shaky start in Paris, spilling the kick-off and conceding a penalty.
However Stade were just as shaky and after Steyn missed the posts, his ill-judged kick saw Falcons centre Juan Socino storm over against the run of play after five minutes.
That stunned the hosts into a response and Stade hit back with three tries in the space of 14 minutes.
Inu stretched out to score for the second week in a row against Falcons before Clegg missed a shot at goal.
Stade had their tails up and even Chris Harris – among the tournament’s top tacklers – could not match the power of Camara from close-range.
Falcons also struggled to contain the French scrum that conceded a penalty and Stade were rewarded for turning down a kick at goal when Williams raced onto Steyn’s long pass to score out wide. However, it was not a night for the kickers with Steyn and Clegg missing five between them.
That allowed Falcons to cut the lead to three points when direct running by Harris and Noah Cato set up Simon Hammersley to cross four minutes before the break.
Yet there was still time for Stade’s scrum to secure a bonus point before half-time when referee Dudley Phillips awarded a penalty try after a string of fouls. Falcons made changes at half-time and saw a turnaround in fortune when Mark Wilson burrowed over following a quickly-taken penalty.
Clegg converted and added a penalty to levell the scores at 24-24 after Stade back-row Jonathan Ross was binned. But problems in the scrum saw Rob Vickers shown a yellow card at Stade’s pack rumbled over from a driving lineout ten minutes from time.
Falcons went close in the final seconds through Socino and Chris York but had to settle for a losing bonus point.
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