Newcastle’s ‘most achievable thing’ as Steve Diamond sets ‘big ask’ target after bleak season
Steve Diamond is daring to dream of Champions Cup qualification this season
Newcastle Falcons director of rugby Steve Diamond says they will be much more competitive this season, and is daring to dream of a push for Champions Cup qualification.
The North East outfit finished rock bottom of the Premiership last season with no wins from their 18 games, but the level of performance did take an upturn following the arrival of the rugby guru.
Now, following a complete overhaul of the playing squad and a full pre-season to instil his style of play, Diamond is a lot more confident heading into the 2024/2025 campaign.
‘Highly competitive’ Newcastle Falcons
Speaking to the media ahead of his side’s opening Premiership game of the season against Bristol Bears – a team they lost 85-14 against last year – Diamond outlined his belief they will be a lot more competitive.
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“We’ve got a different mindset in the building, if I’m honest,” he said. “We’ve got some lads who have joined us and have made a real difference, we’ve got the lads who understand me a little bit more and what I want and how simplified we are. Alan Dickens (senior coach) has come in and made a real difference on the technical side of things; and we’ll be highly competitive, I’m sure of that.
He added: “You can’t say we’re going to win or going to lose; but we’ll be highly competitive. We’ll be within a losing bonus-point and if we win, we win.”
There is certainly some evidence of this new competitive nature, too, with the Falcons narrowly losing 40-39 to Sale Sharks in a pre-season fixture.
Champions Cup dreams?
As Diamond alluded to, he firmly believes his side will be much better than the Falcons team we saw last season, and he is now setting his sights on a Champions Cup spot.
When asked by Planet Rugby what a successful season looks like at Kingston Park this year, Diamond replied: “Qualifying for Europe. It’ll be a big ask, but it’s the most achievable thing we can look at.”
Newcastle haven’t competed in Europe’s premier competition since the 2018/19 season, and last reached the knockout stages in 2004/05 when they made the quarter-finals.
Despite his own lofty ambitions, he said his squad have only discussed being competitive this season.
“What we’ve said as a squad is we’ll become recognised as a highly competitive team in the Premiership. That gives us a little bit of leeway, if we say ‘we’re going to win 10 games’ and we lose the first two you’re bollocked aren’t you.”
He added: “We’ll be highly competitive, and we understand there are better teams out there and some teams will be slightly better prepared than us, no doubt, but it all comes down to a 100-minute window on a Friday or a Saturday afternoon. What we will have is a very competitive bunch home and away.”
