NEWCASTLE Falcons have made two changes to their side for Saturday’s Greene King IPA Championship trip to Hartpury – Alex Tait and Logovi’i Mulipola coming into the starting line-up.

The unbeaten league leaders are going for their 18th victory in succession, having already beaten Hartpury three times this season in league and cup action.

Forwards coach Micky Ward said: “We know each other pretty well because we’ve played three times this season, and if there was an award for the most improved side in the league I’d give it to Hartpury.

“They’re a very changed outfit from what they were at the start of the season, and they’re not going to be like what they were during those early weeks.

“It looks like the weather might not be great on the weekend so the forwards have really got to take control and set the tone. I’m not saying that means we’ve got to have a boring and tight style of play, but if we’re dominating that set-piece and getting yards through the pack then that’s the platform you need.”

Well aware that with each passing week a bigger bounty keeps being put on their head, Ward said: “Everyone wants to beat us, and we know ours is the scalp they all want.

“Week on week it gets that little bit harder the longer we go unbeaten, because that desire from the opposition just grows and grows to become the first team to topple us. We’ve just got to have that mind-set where we’re able to keep dealing with it, and hopefully we’re still having this same conversation at the back end of May.”