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Summer signings Adam Balding, Spencer Davey and Danny Williams will all make their Newcastle Falcons debuts on Friday, as they host the Emirates Western Force at Kingston Park (kick-off 3am WST).
Flanker Balding and centre Davey both start the match, while Williams will take his first steps in rugby union from the bench following his recent move from Leeds Rhinos RL.
Director of rugby, Steve Bates, has named a 15-man bench as he looks to give the bulk of his squad a run in what is a very early pre-season hit-out, before next Sunday's clash away to Leeds Carnegie.
The match is also the first played by a Guinness Premiership club on English soil under the new experimental law variations, with Bates saying: “We have done a lot of talking and training work on these new laws, but it is only when you get out there and start playing games that you get a real picture of how effectively you are dealing with them.
“In that sense having the game so early in the pre-season calendar will be very advantageous for us, although from a rugby point of view it does leave us a bit under-done in terms of preparation time.
“At this stage in pre-season most of the work is fitness-based. We have had a week or so of rugby-specific training, but the bulk of the rugby work will be done over the next five weeks before the Guinness Premiership season starts. In that respect, what it means for Friday is that the game is very much a part of our training rather than our first proper match of the season, but still it will be a useful exercise and we're looking forward to seeing how the boys go.”
Fly half Jonny Wilkinson will not feature as he continues to be on schedule with his rehab training going well, Ross Beattie misses out with an ankle injury while centre Jamie Noon is back in training but rested from the game after touring with England in June.
“It should be an interesting game because there is a lot for the players to take on board, with a completely new line out structure and calls, totally new plays in the backs, a new defensive system which Alan Tait is gradually implementing, new signings coming in to the side and not to mention the new laws too,” said Bates.
“The players are all very hungry for this game, and we have certainly seen that in training. They have basically had five or six weeks of conditioning work, so from a strength and fitness point of view they are looking great, it's now just a case now of getting out and playing some rugby.
“It will allow us to put some more meat on the bones of our playing strategy for the coming season, and to see how our players are dealing with the ELVs as opposed to the southern hemisphere games we have seen so far, where the matches are played in very different conditions with different referees.”
The game also sees Wallaby great Matthew Burke say an emotional farewell to the Falcons fans when he takes the pitch at half-time, and after the match in the West Stand supporters' bar.
Newcastle Falcons team to face Western Force:
15 Tom May
14 Ollie Phillips
13 Tom Dillon
12 Spencer Davey
11 John Rudd
10 Rob Miller
9 James Grindal
1 Micky Ward
2 Andy Long
3 Carl Hayman
4 Andy Buist
5 Mark Sorenson
6 Adam Balding
7 Brent Wilson
8 Phil Dowson (captain)
Replacements: Joe McDonnell, David Wilson, Rob Vickers, Matt Thompson, Andy Perry, Geoff Parling, Tim Swinson, Russell Winter, Ed Williamson, Micky Young, Hall Charlton, Steve Jones, Alex Tait, Tim Visser, Danny Williams.
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Originally Posted by RugbyWA
