'It's Friday night in Newcastle - there will be some drunk Geordies and some entertaining characters'
Adopted Geordie Mark Wilson expects Newcastle to embrace its maiden England international as a valuable chance to grow the game in the North East. Eddie Jones' World Cup hopefuls play their final warm-up Test against Italy at St James' Park on Friday night before heading to Japan 48 hours later.
From a logistics point of view, it will be the easiest of England fixtures for Wilson, who lives 10 minutes from the ground. The Cumbrian moved to Newcastle as a 14-year-old and in 2010 began playing for the Falcons, ensuring a rousing welcome for the rugged flanker.
"Hopefully I will get an alright reception," said Wilson, who has been loaned to Sale next season after Newcastle were relegated from the Gallagher Premiership. "We had photos the other day. I had to put both strips on so that might not go down so well!
"It's Friday night in Newcastle. There will be some drunk Geordies and some entertaining characters. It will be a good atmosphere. My favourite games at the Falcons were always Friday nights because there is a bit of a buzz. Everyone's finished work and had a few drinks.
"It will certainly be very special. All my youth, if you wanted to watch England you had to go down to Twickenham to see them. I'm sure it will be pretty special for young north-east kids who love rugby to be able to go to St James' Park and watch England play.
(Continue reading below...)
"For families up north, getting to Twickenham is quite a big effort. I never got the chance to go as a kid which is why this Friday night will be so special for youngsters in the north. I'm pretty sure a lot of families will make some pretty good memories.
"It will do good for rugby in the region. I remember the 2015 World Cup when games were played there. You could feel the excitement around the place, everyone was talking about it. There is a bit of a boost which will hopefully encourage a bit of a chain reaction in terms of boosting rugby in the area."
Wilson, who lines up in a back row that also includes Billy Vunipola and Tom Curry, will be watched playing for England by his mum for the first time in 15 outings.
"My mum never watches so she will be in the stands, which will be pretty special. She doesn't like big crowds. With this one being in Newcastle I don't think she had an excuse," he said.
"My wife Amy's family had season tickets at Newcastle. Her Dad actually took a penalty at Alan Shearer's testimonial and missed. As long as I am more successful than him that will be alright!”
- Press Association
WATCH: The RugbyPass stadium guide to Sapporo where England will open their World Cup campaign against Tonga
Latest Comments
Skelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
Go to comments