Win is first step to respect for Newcastle - Diamond

Newcastle Falcons consultant director of rugby Steve Diamond believes their win over Exeter Chiefs was the first step towards regaining respect in the Premiership.

The 24-18 success at Kingston Park last Friday was a first for 581 days in the league and came after 25 successive losses.

Some observers had questioned the Falcons' worth in the league after such a terrible run, so Diamond knows the timing of the result was crucial.

"That was the first fix," he said. "For the product that we are trying to show, it's no good if there is a rubbing rag in there."

Last season's Premiership was highly competitive between most sides, but Newcastle finished 27 points adrift at the bottom after losing all 18 games.

It was beginning to look like a similar scenario in the new campaign as they opened with four defeats, but victory moved them one point behind Exeter, albeit still in 10th place.

With the demise of London Irish, Worcester Warriors and Wasps still fresh in the memory, Diamond understands that the slimmed-down 10-team competition needs a competitive Newcastle outfit, as they prepare to face Gloucester on Saturday.

"I know we're not going to win every game, but I need us to be competitive every game," he said.

"Sometimes that is more important than some wins. If we don't win, we still pick up points and pick up respect.

"And opponents start to think, 'Crikey, we've got to go to Newcastle and win'.

"Newcastle have gone up and down a couple of times, but they have never been looked at in the way it was starting to look."

Diamond, who came to Newcastle in January, had overseen 11 of those 25 successive defeats.

He was belatedly able to enjoy a dressing-room chorus of 'Blaydon Races, external' on Friday for the first time - the team's victory song.

"I've never seen a changing room like it," he said. "The pressure cooker blew its lid. It was a release of emotion, tension, stress.

"There were no real celebrations as such, but players could look at their mates and think 'we're not as useless as we appeared to be'.