Newcastle Falcons: Making cup final would be ‘ray of hope’ – Diamond

Newcastle qualified for the knockout stages of this competition in first place and that top seeding guaranteed them home draws in each of the last eight, last four and final, if they progress.

They edged past a youthful Gloucester 22-17 in the quarter-finals and now will try to get past Premiership leaders Bath.

The west country outfit have assembled a talented and deep squad, but they are under pressure to deliver silverware, having not won anything for 17 years – a real drought for one of English rugby’s traditional powerhouses.

The challenge is there for Newcastle but Diamond hopes his players can seize their chance.

“There’s a different motivation when you’re playing a side like Bath – you don’t need to push the buttons as much,” he said.

“You need to push them a little more when we think we’re Real Madrid and we think we’re better than we are.

“I probably didn’t do that enough last week. But Callum Chick and the senior players have been brilliant. They understand what an opportunity this is.”