Premiership: Dave Walder praises Newcastle’s Pumas, ill-discipline cost Leicester Tigers says Richard Wigglesworth

Newcastle Falcons head coach Dave Walder was thrilled by his side’s performance as they ended a four-year wait for victory over Leicester Tigers in the Premiership on Saturday.

Argentine flyer Mateo Carreras took his Premiership try-scoring tally to 11 for the season, grabbing three tries in the bonus-point 45-26 win.?

Attitude and fight

Despite Carreras’ brilliance, Walder quickly spread the praise across the entire team as the Falcons claimed their third straight win at Kingston Park in the league and now sit just five points off the top four.?

“I think the pleasing thing was our attitude from 1 to 23 from the start to the end,” said Walder.

“We fought really well at key moments when the game was in the balance. I thought we were composed, but our attitude and our fight was absolutely bang on today.

“We played the game in the right areas, controlled the tempo that we wanted to play at, and our defence was pretty comfortable making decisions across the board.

“Our forwards have been fronting up week in, week out, and they gave us a great platform to play off today.”

Pumas pounce?

The Argentine contingent were outstanding for Newcastle, with Matias Moroni swan diving over the line against his former side and linked up superbly with centre Matias Orlando,

“Mateo will get the headlines for his unbelievable finishes, but the two Argentinians in the centre gave us a bit of defensive solidity,” added Walder.

“I think as a combination across the board, we all put our hand up today, and I think everybody had a good game which is ultimately what you need against Leicester.”

‘Not a great day’ for Tigers

For the second consecutive week, the Tigers leaked 40 points, a further blow for interim boss Richard Wigglesworth.?

Sean Jansen scored a late try to ensure that Leicester Tigers did leave Kingston Park with a point after earlier tries from Ben Youngs, Ollie Chessum and Jimmy Gopperth.?

Wigglesworth says it was the Tigers’ ill-discipline that was his biggest concern.

“We had discipline issues, and then we didn’t get into good positions in defence,” he explained.

“So you put those two things together, and you’re going to concede points against a good team.

“We put ourselves under too much pressure.

“We’ll be making sure our discipline’s better than it has been over the last couple of weeks.

“I’m proud that we didn’t go away; we showed some fight to get back in and got the reward of a point.

“But that’s only a small consolation on what is not a great day for us.”

Newcastle are back in action in the Challenge Cup next week as they face off against Cardiff in Wales, while Leicester are off to France to tackle Clermont in the Champions Cup.

READ MORE:?Mateo Carerras scores a hat-trick as Newcastle Falcons secure record win over Leicester Tigers