NEWCASTLE Falcons boss Dean Richards wasn’t happy with the refereeing in his side’s 49-32 win at London Scottish.
Scotland back row man Ally Hogg scored a hat-trick to keep the Falcons on top of the Championship, but coming out on the wrong side of a 17-5 penalty count angered Richards.
“If that’s the quality of refereeing at this level then I’m going to be looking at how we’re playing,” he said.
“You play to a Premiership standard and if we’re going to get penalised in that manner we’ll have to change things.”
Line-out drives brought the first two tries for lock Sean Tomes and Hogg, but the Falcons also showed they could strike from long range as Jimmy Gopperth made a 40-metre break to start a move which was finished by Luke Fielden.
When centre Alex Crockett scored an interception try just before halftime Newcastle led 35-11. Gopperth converted all seven tries before Scottish came back with two tries towards the end.
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