We’ve got to be more connected, says McFarland

Debut: Zuriel Togiatama

FIJI international Zuriel Togiatama makes his Newcastle debut as one of five changes from the side that pushed Leicester close last weekend.

Togiatama takes over at hooker in place of Samson Adejimi who rotates onto the bench. The other four changes come in the back line. Werner Kok returns on the left wing from a hamstring injury, Sammy Arnold makes a first appearance of the season at inside centre, while Zack Henry and Simón Benítez Cruz both start after coming on from the bench in the opening two rounds.

Head coach Dan Mc-Farland is determined to build on the bonus points taken by his side against Northampton and Leicester against another Prem heavyweight.

McFarland said: “Picking up bonus points in those games is some small degree of consolation because it shows we can compete and score tries, but of course we want to be winning above all else.

“I was disappointed against Leicester on Saturday because that was a game we were capable of winning. You’ve got to keep some perspective, though, and being disappointed by losing narrowly to one of last season’s semi-finalists at the early stage of the journey we’re on, I think it goes to emphasise the excitement and optimism around our ongoing growth.

“We’re making lots of line-breaks and offloads but we’re just not connected enough yet to finish them off, and I can’t fault the effort. Defensively I thought we were a step ahead of where we were against Northampton the week before, and I can see growth in that area.

“We know we’re not yet where we need to be, but it’s a new group and this isn’t going to be a quick fix. We’ll keep working hard and improving bit by bit every week. I’m confident we will get there.”

McFarland admits Red Bulls have not hit the physicality levels required to topple the Prem big boys. He added: “In terms of physicality, in all honesty I don’t think we’ve been as physical as we can be.

“There’s definitely more to come. We’ve got to be putting shoulders into ribs, moving bodies at the breakdown, getting off the line in defence and smoking guys. We’re seeing bits and pieces of it, but with the style and speed of rugby that we want to be playing we’ve got to be doing more physical damage.

“That’s not to decry what we’ve been doing, because against Leicester in particular I thought we did see some positive progress on that side. But I don’t think we’re even close to the kinds of levels we need to be reaching, and once we get that nailed it just opens the door for the rest of our game to really take off.”

On the challenge posed by last season’s Prem finalists, McFarland said: “Exeter are a possession-based team when they’re in the opposition half, and like us they want to move the ball. They’re a bit more structured than we are and last year they had the best defence in the league.

“They put in a strong display at Bath last week, and they’re clearly a very dangerous side. They’ve got a lot of quality and it will be a huge test. It should be a good spectacle because we’ve got two teams who really want to play and to get the ball moving.”