NewcastleFalcons vs Bath Rugby - Programme - 05/11/2022

“Coming back to
Newcastle was an easy
decision for me.”
actually really beautiful as well, being close to the coast and the
Lakes and all that, and there’s a bit of everything.”
Showing no regrets about his well-travelled career, De Chaves
insists: “Looking back, I’ve loved moving around and seeing loads
of different places. I know I’ve been really fortunate to have
loads of different experiences, but then part of me also admires
the guys who have stayed at the one club and made 200 or so
appearances. Will Welch is a Newcastle Falcons legend and I have
huge respect for that, but I can’t complain when I’ve had so many
great experiences and learned so much about myself.
“I wouldn’t change how I’ve done it, although as you get older you
tend to find you want to do less of the moving around. It’s exciting
when you’re young and you’ve got no strings, but as you get older
I think most people want that element of settling down.”
Forming part of a Falcons side which claimed a pair of bonus
points on their last league outing at Northampton, he adds:
“We’ve got so many good players, and we’re just waiting for that
80-minute performance. We’ve shown in small parts what we’re
capable of, but this league is so brutal that teams will put you to
the sword during those periods when you’re not quite on it.
“We’ve shown we’re not here just to make up the numbers or
get one or two wins – we’re here to put teams under sustained
pressure and win loads of games. It’s all about putting it together
to produce that 80-minute performance, and once we start
getting that mix right we’ll be more than good.
“In a lot of those tight games you probably find that you’re beating
yourself rather than the opposition beating you. You’re making
a lot of decisions which in isolation might seem really small, but
when you put them together it makes a big impact. Once we
get those decisions right we don’t put ourselves under as much
pressure, but from being in and around this group every day I’m
sure we’ve got enough to start putting teams to the sword.”
Facing a Bath side who also boast one Premiership victory this
season, the lock-forward says: “Bath are always tough opponents
and they’ve got a lot of good players.
“We can’t be going into this game taking them lightly, especially
considering they’ve had their first win now – and I know we won’t
be. The big focus is on us and what we can do, and with having
two free weekends we can’t say there’s been a lack of preparation
time.
“We’ve spoken about a few things this week, and we’ll focus on
the same things next week, then it’s putting those into action
when we get out onto the field. To some degree it doesn’t matter
what Bath bring because we’re so focused on ourselves, but yeah,
they’re a good team with plenty of ability, so we’ll give them the
respect they deserve.”
A bye weekend and the cancellation of last weekend’s trip to
Wasps has handed the Falcons an extended preparation going
into today’s game, with De Chaves positive about the extra leadup
time.
“I’m not 21 years old any more, so having a couple of free
weekends is probably quite welcome for some of the guys just to
iron out some niggles,” he says.
“Especially with having the midweek cup games it’s been a hectic
start to the season, and the hope is that the guys will show that
freshness coming into the Bath game. You’ve got to strike that
balance between the guys being fresh and being match sharp,
and I think we’ve done a decent job of that.”
As well as offering the chance for precious league points today’s
3pm kick-off also marks the 250th Premiership match held at
Kingston Park Stadium.
“I’ve been to Kingston Park as a home player and an away player,
and I can tell you for certain that teams don’t like coming here,”
says De Chaves.
“It’s miles for them to travel, it’s often freezing cold and the
Falcons have always been a gritty team who love to defend their
own patch. No matter what the score is you know it’s going to
be a physical 80 minutes, and that you’ll be thankful when it’s
all over.
“It’s great that it’s the 250th Premiership game here and is a
nice little milestone, and hopefully we can have a game fit
for the occasion.”
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