Newcastle Falcons boss Steve Diamond has taken aim at Bath RFC ahead of the pairs clash at Kingston Park tomorrow evening.
Tickets for Friday’s game are available by clicking here.
Diamond, who questioned why any player would want to join an unsuccessful club like Bath earlier in the season, has taken another swipe at the black, blue and whites ahead of their clash tomorrow night.
He said: “For Bath, with the money they spend, the training facility they’ve got and the vast coaching resource at their disposal – they should be winning leagues and cups year in, year out, or at the very least be hitting semi-finals.
“That should be par for them every single time, but as recently as a couple of years ago they were bumbling around the wrong end of the league and finishing bottom, below little old Newcastle.”
Diamond’s frustration could be in part due to the Falcons losing England U20 flanker Guy Pepper to Bath for next season.
He added: “There’s only two letters difference between ‘nurture’ and ‘vulture,’ and if you’re given ultimate resources then you can go around picking off all the best talent at the other clubs.
“There are three Premiership clubs have gone bust, and teams like Bath have snapped up their best players. That’s not a criticism, it’s good business, and fair play to them. We’re not in the position to do that at Newcastle – and that’s not me complaining. I’ve come up here with full knowledge about what the situation is, and I’m fine with it.”
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Newcastle Falcons team v Bath Rugby (Friday, 7.45pm, Kingston Park, live on PRTV)
15 Louis Brown, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Cameron Hutchison, 11 Ben Redshaw, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Sam Stuart; 1 Adam Brocklebank, 2 Jamie Blamire, 3 Eduardo Bello, 4 Tim Cardall, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 6 Sam Cross, 7 Guy Pepper, 8 Callum Chick (captain).
Replacements: 16 Bryan Byrne, 17 Mark Dormer, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 John Hawkins, 20 Freddie Lockwood, 21 James Elliott, 22 Rory Jennings, 23 Oli Spencer.
Not available for selection: Phil Brantingham, Murray McCallum, Kiran McDonald, Elliott Obatoyinbo, Hugh O’Sullivan, Tom Penny, Pedro Rubiolo, Ben Stevenson, Philip van der Walt.
Bath Rugby: 15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Cameron Redpath, 11 Will Muir, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben Spencer (captain); 1 Beno Obano, 2 Tom Dunn, 3 Thomas du Toit, 4 Quinn Roux, 5 Charlie Ewels, 6 Ted Hill, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Alfie Barbeary.
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Jacques du Plessis, 20 Miles Reid, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Orlando Bailey, 23 Josh Bayliss.
Referee: Tom Foley.