By South Stand Choir

This summer Newcastle Falcons became the seventh (eighth if we include Rotherham’s aborted attempt in 2002) team to bounce straight back into the Premiership since it was founded in 1997 following relegation.

The question now on every Geordie rugby fan’s lips is whether the Falcons can avoid going straight back down again. History is on their side – London Welsh were the first side since Leeds in 2008 to survive just one season back in the big time.

The fixture list gave Dean Richards’ side a mixed beginning to the year, with Bath at home followed by a trip to expected relegation rivals Sale, and then a daunting visit to champions Leicester. Four points from those games has not been a terrible return – though if that trend is continued through the season, 28 points or approximate may not be enough.

Early opinion seemed to have the Falcons in a battle with Worcester, Sale and London Irish to stay up. This is how they have all started the season:

Newcastle
Bath (H) L0-21
Sale (A) W14-15
Leicester (A) L31-6

London Irish
Saracens (Twickenham) L20-42
Worcester (A) W18-20
Exeter (H) L23-29

Sale
Gloucester (A) W16-22
Newcastle (H) L14-15
London Wasps (H) W26-22

Worcester
Leicester (A) L32-15
London Irish (H) L18-20
Harlequins (H) L13-37

Bar the matches between teams in this group, which might have been expected to go to the home teams, the only real upset has been Sale’s win at Kingsholm, which has helped lift the Sharks up to fifth, while Wasps languish in eleventh but might be expected to claw their way up due to the talent in their squad. @thewaspsblog is worried though. Worcester, bottom with a single point, will be most concerned. Falcons fan @AmaChiku sees the Warriors going down.

For the Falcons, much will depend on the fitness and form of key players such as Mike Blair, Ally Hogg, Will Welch and Adam Powell, plus how well Rory Clegg and Phil Godman are able to replace Jimmy Gopperth. Fitness will be key in the front row, where Grant Shiells and Oliver Tomaszczyk are a match for the best but have suffered injuries so far.

The key however may well be Richards himself – a manager who is able to get players to play far above themselves and mould a team that is better than the sum of its parts.

Thank you to South Stand Choir for this piece! Follow on Twitter @SouthStandChoir.