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[david]

director OF RUGBY, ROB ANDREW today announced his team to face ASM RUGBY (Montferrand) in the Round 2, Leg 2 match at Stade Michelin, Clermont Ferrand on Sunday 18th January 2004: -

1 Micky Ward
2 Nick Makin
3 Marius Hurter
4 Craig Hamilton
5 stuart Grimes
6 Jon Dunbar
7 Warren Britz
8 Hugh Vyvyan (Capt)
9 James Grindal
10 Dave Walder
11 Ben Gollings
12 Mark Mayerhofler
13 Jamie Noon
14 Tom May
15 Joe Shaw

Replacements:
16 Ian Peel/Dave Wilson
17 Matt Thompson / Will Kay
18 Epi Taione
19 Phil Dowson
20 Hall Charlton
21 Mark Wilkinson
22 Martin Shaw

We are also pleased to confirm that we attracted the largest gate last weekend (4,950) compared to the other matches played.

FALCONS LOOK FOR THAT KILLER TOUCH
Newcastle Falcons coach Andrew Blades will call on his side to be more clinical as they attempt to build on their narrow first leg advantage against Tony Marsh?s star-studded team.
?Obviously we would have liked a bigger advantage to take to France but we are concentrating on simply winning the game,? said Blades. ?It is a great challenge for us as the first leg was a tough and physical battle. We made a few openings but couldn?t finish off the chances and we will want to do that this time.
?I was very impressed with their defence ? defence coach Frank Ponissi has obviously done a great job for them ? because when we did attack their scramble defence kept us out.
?They also attacked the ball at the breakdown most effectively and, with both sides looking to play the game at pace, we are really looking forward to the return.
?At this stage I am not confident that Jonny Wilkinson, Garath Archer or Mark Andrews will be fit for the game but, as it is the beginning of the week, I always live in hope.?

ATTACK THE KEY FOR MONTFERRAND
Three of the big Anglo-French showdowns in Round 2 of the Parker Pen Challenge Cup are hanging in seven-point balances as the battle for quarter-final places go on the line.
The Montferrand and Newcastle Falcons clash is one of them ? and Montferrand coach Alain Hyardet is content his side don?t have a bigger deficit to try to wipe out at Parc des Sports Marcel-Michelin on Sunday afternoon.
?I am pleased with the result we got at Newcastle,? said Hyardet. ?It?s always difficult playing at English clubs considering the sheer number of quality players they are able to select.
?In order to continue our European adventure, we will have to apply ourselves on Sunday. We have worked hard on our defence but now we have to work on our execution in order to score tries. Our emphasis has to slide from defence to attack this weekend.
?However, though seven points seems little, we have to be vigilant because Newcastle play the ball a lot and it is difficult to score points against them ? in that respect it could be seen as a substantial margin to wipe out.
?And English teams don?t worry about whether they are playing away from home ? they will just be determined to play well and conserve their advantage.
?We have to be on our guard and not count our chickens before they hatch. We will have to pull out some of our best rugby to qualify for the quarter-finals.
?Our matches against Leonessa helped restore some of the confidence that comes from winning and I hope that will continue after this Round.
?One of the reasons playing in this competition is important for us is that we have to learn to be disciplined because the referees are very vigilant. That is a good thing for us because we had a discipline problem earlier this season.?