THEY might have suffered a couple of disappointing cup campaigns, but Newcastle Falcons director of rugby Dean Richards will happily spend the next couple of months focusing on maintaining his side’s fine form in the Aviva Premiership.

With no more games in the European Challenge Cup or Anglo-Welsh Cup to concern them, Falcons’ remaining nine matches will see them attempt to force their way into the top half of the table. They are currently sitting ninth, a place ahead of Sale Sharks, who they meet at the AJ Bell Stadium tomorrow.

“This our bread and butter, and I absolutely love it,” said Richards. “The Aviva Premiership is probably the best club competition in world rugby, and the fact that the cups are now over for us has really created that focus on the league.

“It certainly tidies up the season from that point of view, and the only focus we’ve got is winning as many games as we can in the Premiership.”

Falcons beat Sale at Kingston Park on the opening weekend of the season, and their six league wins to date mean they have already beaten their tally for the whole of last term.

They have tended to use the cup competitions for squad rotation, but having named a strong side for last weekend’s Anglo-Welsh win over Bath, Richards feels his players are getting back up to speed at just the right time.

“We are starting to get a bit of form again,” he said. “We had a couple of weeks off for the cups where we tried and tested things, and gave people a game. The boys came through in the past two weeks, and that shows the confidence and the fact people are understanding exactly how we are trying to play.

“Sale are a difficult side to beat at their own stadium, and last season I think they only lost once there in the league. This season they have lost a few more, but at the same time they are a difficult nut to crack and we are under no illusions as to what it will take.

“They have got a lot of their big players back and are just starting to hit a bit of form. It makes them a difficult side to beat but, having said that, our own form down there is not too bad.

“Year on year we have been improving, and people have been frowning saying ‘Yeah you’re improving, but you’re not getting the results’.

“But if you keep improving year after year, eventually you will start overtaking people. That’s what we have started to do, but it’s the smaller finer details that get you there. It’s a gradual thing and you don’t see it all at once.

“People can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and even though we weren’t quite getting the results we were being competitive most of our games. Now that we’re starting to win more than we have ever done, that confidence is growing even more.”

Newcastle Falcons: Tait, Agulla, Harris, Socino, Goneva, Hodgson, Takulua; Vickers, Lawson, Welsh, Green, Robinson, M Wilson, Welch, Fonua.

Replacements: Cooper, Harris, S Wilson, Olmstead, Latu, Egerton, Delany, Waldouck.