By apb
November 12 2004

Another week, another set of fans confidently predicting a five-pointer against us! It was ever thus, but in the increasing defiance of the facts, once again Newcastle fans are confidently predicting a hatful against the blue-white-and-a-little-bit-of-ambers.

But after the last two Premiership victories (with only a slight stutter against a Grenoble side that we, the Tykes fans, were guilty of under-estimating), the Leeds management have once again put out a very good looking side. The back line has two changes, with Tom Biggs giving way to a David Rees who is coming into form at the right time, and the brand new, never-before-seen-on-these-shores Gareth Wright at the pivotal role of fly-half, standing in for Goggsy on international bench duty. This is possibly the point at which the match might turn. Is Wrighty up-to-speed? Has he the resilience and confidence to run a game at this level? Does he know his team-mates well enough? We shall see!

After last week's excellent debut, Rayno (apparently pronounced "Rhino") Gerber (pronounced "Cghcgherber") starts again at tight-head, while Gavin Kerr does the same for Scotland on Saturday. Colm Rigney moves to openside to make way for Alix Popham to return at his specialist position of No. 8. Jon Dunbar at six will also be mad keen to lay into his former team-mates, and this looks like a very strong, useful pack.

On the bench, we have a welcome return from injury for Pierre Uys (pronounced "Ace") and Diego Albanese (pronounced.... oh, well you surely know that by now!!). Goggsy will be there if he doesn't contribute on Saturday, otherwise Tom Biggs will be the other back on the bench.

And what of the home team? Well, my minimal research suggests that the back line will require sheparding, but - although useful - we ought to have the better of the forwards. The Newcastle faithful are very confident their back-row can be effective in the loose, and with the depth of quality Leeds have to boast in that position, this will be an interesting area of the game.

There are two chaps who deserve special attention on the pitch on Sunday - Mark Regan and Jamie Noon. Both of these excellent players have been overlooked by the England management, and both have a right to feel hard done by, Regan perhaps more so in that he has clearly looked to be the best hooker of English origin this season. The international season sees Newcastle lose out more than Leeds, and while in the scheme of things this is not good for the fairness of the Premiership as a competition, its a pretty good thing for Leeds!

Prediction?

The Premiership is too close a match for any game to be anything other than a nail biter, and this one has the makings of a high scoring classic of that ilk. Until recently, Newcastle were Leeds' bogey team, but that was well and truly laid to rest last season with a great victory at Kingston Park. With confidence high, the ability up, and the team well drilled and motivated, I think it'll happen again this season too!

Teams:

Newcastle Falcons

15 Matthew Burke
14 Tom May
13 Jamie Noon
12 Epi Taione
11 Michael Stephenson
10 Dave Walder
9 James Grindal

1 Ian Peel (c)
2 Andy Long
3 Marius Hurter
4 Craig Hamilton
5 Andy Buist
6 Semo Sititi
7 Cory Harris
8 Phil Dowson

Replacements:

Micky Ward
James Isaacson
Mike McCarthy
Geoff Parling
Lee Dickson
Joe Shaw
Mathew Tait


Leeds Tykes

15. Tim Stimpson
14. Iain Balshaw
13. Chris Bell
12. Andre Snyman
11. David Rees
10. Gareth Wright
9. Alan Dickens

1. Mike Shelley
2. Mark Regan
3. Rayno Gerber
4. Scott Morgan
5. Tom Palmer (c)
6. Jon Dunbar
7. Colm Rigney
8. Alix Popham

Replacements

16. Matt Holt
17. Rob Rawlinson
18. Chris Murphy
19. Pierre Uys
20. Mark McMillan
21. Gordon Ross/Tom Biggs
22. Diego Albanese

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