A REVITALISED Mathew Tait is anxious to help Newcastle Falcons earn another crack at the Heineken Cup next season.

After going on for the last 20 minutes of last week's quarter-final defeat in Paris, he has been selected on the left wing for tomorrow's home match against Worcester.

The three remaining games for the Falcons, who are seventh in the Premiership, are all against teams battling against relegation and they will probably need to win them all to secure a Heineken Cup place.

"That's where we want to be as a club," said Tait. "It was a fantastic experience in Paris. To see so many people wearing Falcons shirts was unbelievable.

"It was great for them to have the opportunity to watch the club in that environment and having spoken to a lot of them in a bar in Paris afterwards I know they loved the experience, even though we were well beaten."

Hamstring and eye injuries recently forced Tait to pull out of the World Cup Sevens in Hong Kong and he revealed that Rob Andrew sent him away to rest.

"Rob was good enough to give me ten days off and told me to go away and recharge my batteries," he said. "It was disappointing to miss the Sevens World Cup, but it wasn't until I got away on holiday that I realised how tired and run-down I was.

"I went to Scotland with a mate and did some fishing and walking. I feel a lot better for it and now I'm hungry to get stuck in again."

Andrew felt Tait had been damaged by being dropped by England coach Andy Robinson after one game, and the former Barnard Castle schoolboy said: "It's been an interesting few months. People keep telling me it's character building.

"I think people sometimes forget I only turned 19 in February and I have only been a professional rugby player for six months. People at the club like Steve Black and Bob Morton have helped a huge amount in getting me through it."

The return of flanker Colin Charvis at No 6 in place of Mike McCarthy should give the Falcons a lift, but with James Isaacson joining Ian Peel back on the casualty list there could still be problems in the front row.

Both the Falcons' last two games have ended with uncontested scrums and they will start tomorrow with 19-year-old David Wilson and Micky Ward at prop, but Ward has failed to complete the last two matches. Galo Alvares Quinones returns after injury to provide cover on the bench.

Following the 48-8 defeat by Stade Francais, Andrew said: "This group of players respond extremely well to a setback.

"To win five from six group games in Europe was sensational but we learned last Saturday that we are not quite there in terms of depth of the squad in comparison to these big French sides, who have twice our wage bills.

"It has helped us to re-focus as a club in terms of where we have to go next. We are moving forwards in terms of the stadium, the crowds and the academy, but it's important for us to get back into the Heineken Cup by finishing this season strongly."

* Durham are likely to face a backlash from their leading clubs after deciding that this season's county cup final will be played on June 1.

"Half our players will probably be on holiday then," said Blaydon spokesman Jim Huxley. "The county have jumped the gun when they should have waited to see what happens this weekend. If we win at Rugby all the North-East teams in National Three North will be safe and we could play the cup semi-finals on April 20 and the final a week later."

Instead the county have decreed that the semi-finals should be played on Wednesday, April 27, although Darlington Mowden Park would not be prepared to go to Westoe on that date if they still had to win at home to Fylde the following Saturday to ensure league safety.

Durham have reached their decision on the basis that they don't want the county final to clash with the County Championship, which will be played on May 7,14 and 21, with the possibility of a trip to Twickenham on the 28th.

Mowden have made one change for today's visit of Macclesfield, with Michael Georgiou on the wing for the unavailable Michael Breen.

Prop Danny Brown is back but will be on the bench, along with Matt Howland, who returns after injury.

* Middlesbrough, who entertain Liverpool St Helens today, will be away to Leeds in the second round of the Yorkshire Cup on Tuesday. The Tykes, who field their second team in the event, beat Huddersfield 28-5 in the first round. Like Boro, Redcar were handed a walkover by Sheffield and will now be at home to Beverley.