IT’S lucky the new Guinness Premiership season begins tomorrow, or a few Newcastle Falcons players may have turned out for the opening game with black eyes, believes prop Micky Ward – though he is adamant that is not a bad sign. Ward, who packs down for the 200th time in a Newcastle shirt when Sale Sharks visit Kingston Park has revealed his team-mates are so desperate to get into the rough and tumble of a competitive game, the enthusiasm could boil over at any point. “We’re at the point now where the lads are absolutely buzzing in training,” he said. “You can see it’s just starting to boil over a bit, and that’s ideal because it means we’ve timed it perfectly. “We’re desperate for a game, and if we’d had to wait another weekend for a match I think there would be a few scraps in training because the lads just want to get stuck in to a physical confrontation one way or another. “Warm-up games are all well and good, they serve a purpose, but it’s not the same as getting stuck in to the competition week in week out.” While attention in some rugby quarters may be directed towards France at this time of year with the World Cup in full swing, Ward believes the tournament will not serve as a distraction. “To be honest you look at the team sheet and even though the World Cup’s on in France both clubs have put out good sides with some belting players,” he said. “Both of us have a few lads away with their countries, but we have a strong squad, World Cup or no World Cup. We’re doing alright, and we’re pushing in the right direction.” With lofty ambitions traditionally churned out to the media in pre-season, a pragmatic Ward chooses the understated approach as he reaches his own double century in club colours. He said: “Everybody asks the same question this time every year, and to an extent we just trot out the same sort of stuff saying this is going to be our season and all that kind of thing. “What we’re doing this time is deliberately not making that kind of statement, instead we’re knuckling down behind the scenes and just getting on with it. “What I will say is that the pre-season has been outstanding, and we’ve had a level of planning that I’ve never seen before at this club. “Training has been totally overhauled at every level, and we’re doing things now that we’ve never done before, whether it’s on the fitness and weights side, the rugby, skills or whatever. “Maybe for the past few years we’ve been following the same sort of path in training and getting the same sort of results, but we’ve kind of ripped up the book and started again this time because it was pretty obvious something needed to be done. “Steve Bates has come in for the technical side of things and made a big difference, and the coaches haven’t just rocked up on the first day of pre-season and decided what to do, they’ve been planning the whole thing for months before we even returned from holiday.” Fly-half Charlie Hodgson will make his return from a cruciate ligament injury for Sale after being overlooked by England. Magnus Lund and Chris Jones also missed out on World Cup selection and have been named in the starting line-up, although David Tait is on standby as Jones suffered a minor neck injury in midweek. TICKETS for Sunday’s game are still available in advance by calling 0871 226 60 60, or from the Kingston Park box office for match-day cash sales. | 
