Mulipola on relegation fight: 'It really will be the great escape if we can pull it off'

Logovi’i Mulipola is backing relegation-threatened Newcastle to pull off the great escape as they prepare to host Northampton on Friday.

With three rounds of Gallagher Premiership action remaining the Falcons are seven points from safety, but the Samoan is enthusiastic about the challenge ahead.

“I’m happy and confident that we have it in us - and we’re going to do it,” said Mulipola, the 26-cap international who joined from Leicester last summer.

“We’ve talked about how important it is to win these next three. We have to go out there and really work hard and we have to put every single thing into it. It really will be the great escape if we can pull it off this season.

“I back the boys, I really believe we can do it and the fact we are at home for two of our three games is a massive factor in our favour.

“They’re all cup finals now, we’re not going to pretend otherwise, but I back these boys all the way and we believe we can do it.”

Frustrated by their narrow home loss to Leicester a fortnight ago, Mulipola said: “That was a hard pill for the boys to swallow – I’m not going to lie.

“It was a good game, a tough game, and it’s always like that against Leicester. We slipped up in a way and it was pretty sad at the time.

“To be right on their line at the end of the game, those are the times when we talk about being really disciplined and controlling the game and in those two minutes at the end we were sure the game was going to be ours.

“But it didn’t happen. We have learned from it and we’ll take that lesson into our next three games. The only thing we can do now is move on and make sure we’re bang-on next time we get that opportunity.”

Having won their last six Premiership encounters against the Saints, Newcastle have the formbook on their side as Mark Wilson secured a late victory in their last league meeting on December 1.

“Northampton have a similar mentality to Leicester, they’re a good team, but when we played them down there earlier in the season we came away with the win,” said Mulipola. “The boys were really on it for the last five minutes during that game. It was a great feeling when we got that winning try but we know Northampton will be backing themselves on Friday.

“We need to do our basics, trust our plan and the result will take care of itself from there. We felt a bit down after the Leicester game, but we have brought the energy up this week and really approached the Northampton game with a clear focus. We’re thinking positive and we’re being very detailed in our preparation.”

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