GARY Gold has admitted it will be "do or die" when Newcastle Falcons attempt to pull off one of the greatest escape acts in rugby history at London Wasps this afternoon.
Falcons go into their final game of the Aviva Premiership season with their top-flight status hanging by a thread.
The North-Easterners trail Wasps by four points and a have a vastly inferior points difference to their London rivals. Therefore, they must either score four tries and win by at least eight points, thereby securing a five-point swing over their opponents, or claim the 24-point victory that will turn the points difference equation to their advantage.
In truth, neither scenario is particularly likely, but having been 12 points adrift of safety at one stage, Falcons have done well to engineer a situation where they have any chance at all on the final weekend.
And with Gold set to stand down whatever happens this afternoon, with former Harlequins director of rugby Dean Richards primed to take over before the start of next season, the South African is confident his players will go out with a bang.
"I suppose it's do or die in terms of where the club is at this moment in time," said the Falcons chief. "It's a really big occasion, but for some of the reasons why we do what we do, it's also quite an exciting one.
"We're really lucky that our fate is still in our hands, albeit only slightly. Things could have gone very differently if Wasps had held on against Bath - we would already have been relegated - so that's the exciting challenge."
The main thing in Newcastle's favour is that they are going into today's game in their best form of the season, having ended a two-year wait for a Premiership away win with a success at Gloucester in their last away outing.
Gold's side also know that a defeat is not necessarily fatal, as the Championship play-offs could yet be won by a side that do not meet the requirements for promotion to the Premiership. In that scenario, relegation and promotion would be put on hold for 12 months.
If the worst does come to pass, owner Semore Kurdi has already pledged to support the club in the Championship next season, but Gold insists his players cannot allow themselves to be influenced by the permutations of what might or might not occur.
"If we get caught up on what the game means or the emotions behind it, or the sadness which will be there because one of the clubs goes down, or the permutations that have nothing to do with the Premiership, then we will lose our focus and vision," he said.
"In a funny way, because of where this club has been for the last year-and-a-half, I almost find that we're not in a pressure situation because no one is really giving us a chance."
Nevertheless, if Newcastle enter the final quarter of the game with a chance of success, their game plan will have to reflect the requirements of what they need to survive.
That will demand clear instructions from Gold, and strong leadership from a select group of senior players that includes skipper James Hudson, fly-half Jimmy Gopperth and scrum-half Peter Stringer.
"We will start just as we would do in any other match, and as the game goes on we have to make decisions based on what is happening," explained back rower Ally Hogg.
"If we are 30 points up at half-time just playing our normal game then we are happy enough to continue with that policy, but if we are ten points down at half-time then we have to re-address our tactics and what we are looking to do.
"James Hudson as our captain and the other senior players will make those decisions. You are into the realms of, 'Do we kick the penalty, go for the corner, tap and go, have a crack or whatever'.
"Feel is a massive factor in those sorts of decisions, and the players on the field are important in gauging that."
Falcons will start with the same side that pushed reigning champions Saracens close in their final home game two weeks ago.
NEWCASTLE FALCONS (vs London Wasps): Goosen, Uys, Helleur, Fitzpatrick, Shortland, Gopperth, Stringer; Golding, Vickers, Murray, Hudson, Swinson, Hogg, Welch, Balding.
Replacements: Thompson, Shiells, Hall, Goode, Tu'ifua, Wilson, Pilgrim, Catterick.
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