Newcastle Falcons manager Alex Codling gave an emotional interview following his team’s Premier League defeat.

The Falcons travel to Welford Road on Sunday night to face First Division side Leicester Tigers. A hat-trick from Welsh international Tommy Reffell saw the Tigers win 47-3 in utter confusion.

Speaking bluntly after the game, Codling simply explained that the Falcons don’t have the players, size and athleticism to compete with the likes of the Tigers. Get the latest Welsh rugby news by signing up to our newsletter here.

Codling was interviewed by TNT Sport’s Martin Bayfield after the match. He began by saying, “To be honest, I’m really excited, Martin. There were many opportunities and needs, but today a team of 40 international players faced a group of players that I will always support.

“We basically have no experience. We do not have a size profile. In these conditions, when you make bad decisions and make mistakes…

“No matter how hard you work, it’s up to the club to make the decision, frankly, to move forward to where it wants to go.”

A coach showing vulnerability is a rarity in elite sport and has since racked up more than half a million views on X in two days.

He continued: “People are working really hard, but we face this every week and on a personal and collective level it is incredibly difficult. It’s hard to watch when you see 15 guys giving it their all. , but in principle it is difficult.

“The first 20 minutes were really our season, we were actually number one in the Premier League in the first 10 minutes, we only conceded one try. But we are simply losing momentum.

“We don’t have the size, we don’t have the experience and that can’t be disguised any other way. The decision is not in my hands, but they have to make a decision if they want to transfer this to the club.”

Watch the clip below.

Codling was then asked if there was a quick fix: “The bottom line is there are a lot of talented young people, but it’s not a quick fix. The issue is that you have a group of players where we have a small squad. The problem we have compared to other teams is that we don’t have the same competition in training as, for example, Leicester Tigers.

“It just becomes a challenge. Like I said, I’ve been incredibly positive about the group and still am. But like I said, strategically, in the future they’re going to have to make decisions because it’s really not fair to the league itself when you work hard and you see a group of guys working hard for 80 minutes, but the result was ready and drunk after, 25 minutes.

“I’m emotional, I like what I do. “I’m going to protect these guys while I’m here, like I said, it’s a really tough night.”