Dean Richards tears into officials after 14-man Newcastle are pipped by Exeter Chiefs

Newcastle coach Dean Richards is not a man to let things fester, and after his side lost to a late Exeter penalty following what he believes was a mistaken sending-off, he was in no mood to cut the match officials some slack. The incident in question occurred 25 minutes in, with Newcastle leading 7-0, when No 8 Callum Chick was red-carded after his shoulder hit the head of former Falcon Josh Hodge on his first return to Kingston Park since leaving for the Chiefs last summer.

“Josh Hodge clearly dropped his height, and the problem is that referees and TMOs are trying to get a quick decision rather than the right decision,” said Richards. “It was a yellow card. You can't make such a big decision in such a crucial game as quickly as that. It's really poor. I've spoken to [Exeter head coach] Rob Baxter and he agrees with me. We'd just scored and if we'd 15 men we may have competed better.”

Richards might also have mentioned that referee Christophe Ridley should have insisted that the young full-back, who had made a couple of excellent early breaks, should have been taken off for an HIA check after he wobbled away from Chick's challenge, and kept rubbing his head. It was no surprise when he didn't come out for the second half.

Despite being down to 14 men for most of this match, Richards' men showed enormous resilience and character as they delivered one of the best rearguard actions of the season. Outgunned for long periods, and down to 14 men midway through the first half, in torrential rain and savagely gusting winds, Newcastle battled a brutally attritional Chiefs side to a standstill.

In a unrelentingly physical contest, the Falcons never took a backwards step despite being under the cosh for long periods. Indeed, before