'We’ve been told all year by the pundits how useless we are'

Newcastle Falcons boss Steve Diamond has spoken of his relief at his side getting their first win in 26 matches as they look to back up last weekend's Gallagher Premiership boilover result over Exeter Chiefs with another win.

Alex Hearle will make his first start for the Falcons this Saturday as they face Gloucester away at Kingsholm. The winger comes into an otherwise unchanged starting XV.

Fit-again Brett Connon and Sebastian de Chaves are added to the bench. Director of rugby Diamond aims to continue the team’s resurgence.

“It was important we got our first win just to start and change the narrative that had developed around us, but to be fair I thought we played well,” said the Falcons boss. “There were a couple of areas like our line-out and defending the high ball where we weren’t good enough, and we’ve worked hard at those this week, but the great thing was we generally stuck to what we said we were going to do.

"Having done that and achieved a win, it just gives that belief to the players that the plan we’ve put in place is the right one. So yeah, I’m delighted for the lads, but on the same note it’s only one win and we have to push on from here.”

“It’s the first time I’ve heard the ‘Blaydon Races’ being sung in the changing room after a game, and I’ve actually added it to my playlist in the car. It’s normally just ‘Stevie Diamond’s Hot Hits’ when I’m driving around, but it’s been on this week so I can join in with the lads the next time we win!

“The pressure cooker blew its lid last week and it was more of a relief for people than anything else, but what’s been great to see since then is how committed they all are to improving on the areas where we fell short. We’ve been told all year by the pundits how useless we are, but at least the lads can look each other in the eye now and know they’ve got it within themselves to perform at this level. It’s got to be on a much more regular basis, of course, and we’ve got a big chance to make a statement this weekend down at Gloucester.”

“It’s an interesting challenge down there [against Gloucester] because they’re a team who have scored and conceded a lot of points so this season. It means there are opportunities there for us, but on the same note our defence has got to be on-point to contain the attacking threats they’ve got. It’s a very different way of playing to what we saw from Exeter, but we’re starting to get guys back from injury and we’re not in a bad place.

“We’ve got senior lads like Brett Connon and Seb de Chaves back in the 23 this weekend which will help raise standards across the board, and we’ll need their knowhow and experience if we’re going to win at places like Gloucester - one of the iconic venues of English rugby. I’m not sure if they like me very much but I genuinely love the atmosphere down there, and it’s a great environment for us to test ourselves.”

“We’ve had serious words about the parts of our game which didn’t function and it hasn’t been swept under the carpet, but there was also so much positive stuff in there that we can build on.

“We’re second in the league for turnovers, and guys like Tom Gordon, Jamie Blamire and Sammy Arnold have been brilliant in that area. That gives us a massive opportunity, and we were also pretty disciplined in only conceding six penalties against Exeter.

“One thing we need to start doing, and we’ve talked about it a lot, is picking up bonus points. Exeter haven’t won a game but they’re above us in the league, and Gloucester have been finding bonus points every time. That’ll come back to haunt us if we can’t put it right, and even if we don’t win games we need to be taking bonus points.

“But we’re going down to Gloucester with the wind in our sails. You can sense the buzz around the building and it should be a great contest.”

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Ben Redshaw, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Connor Doherty, 12 Sammy Arnold, 11 Alex Hearle, 10 Ethan Grayson, 9 Sam Stuart; 1 Adam Brocklebank, 2 Jamie Blamire, 3 Richard Palframan, 4 Pedro Rubiolo, 5 John Hawkins, 6 Philip van der Walt, 7 Tom Gordon, 8 Callum Chick (captain).

Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Luan de Bruin, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 Sebastian de Chaves, 20 Freddie Lockwood, 21 Joe Davis, 22 Brett Connon, 23 Ben Stevenson