Burke calls for hot Bath finish.

Byline: By Alan Hedley

Falcons skipper Matt Burke aims to finish Newcastle's Premiership season on a high with victory in their final game against Bath on Saturday, writes Alan Hedley.

A win at Kingston Park could take the Falcons to seventh in the Premiership if Sale win at Harlequins and who knows what that might mean if there is a European Cup next season considering the multiple qualification status of some clubs.

"We're playing a good brand of rugby and although we're sitting mid-table in the Premiership there's still plenty to play for," said the former Aussie international full back. "We've got a big game to finish with and if we win we'll certainly end on a high. Your last game always forms the basis for next season."

Meanwhile, Burke is an interested observer on preparations for the Emirates Airline Edinburgh Sevens on the weekend beginning June 2. He played in the inaugural Rugby World Cup Sevens 14 years ago as an uncapped 20-year-old.

He said: "Looking back we had the strongest team available to us with players like David Campese and Michael Lynagh. We had a fantastic week but were beaten in the final by England."

It was the first of many outings to Edinburgh for Burke who has since been capped 81 times and is now Australia's fourth all-time top try scorer behind Campese, Joe Roff and Tim Horan with 29 tries. Campese and Roff were both formidable sevens players in their day, giving substance to the philosophy that sevens is ideal for developing players. "The sevens will be just up the road," added Burke. "The season will be finished here and I'm sure people will head up for what will be a fantastic experience at Murrayfield."

Kingston Park is also gearing up for the North-East Property Buyers Newcastle Festival of Rugby with the line-up for the main Falcons Sevens nearing completion.

The Falcons Sevens takes place on Sunday May 6 as part of a wider festival encompassing a whole range of competitions. Last season's competition was won by The Slashers, a British Army team containing a host of Fijian stars, and this year's line-up will see a similarly strong challenge from the military quarters. The Army will be represented by The Tigers, a team with a large Fijian contingent which last weekend won the Northern Ireland Sevens.

The Islands flavour continues with Leicester Tigers and Fiji wing Seru Rabeni coaching the Kaviti Crusaders team, which brings together UK-based Fijian talent including Sevens World Cup winner Apolosi Satala, Isoa Damudamu and a host of players with Premiership and National League experience.

Like last year there will be a strong challenge from hosts Falcons, who were narrowly beaten in last season's showpiece match. The Falcons squad is fresh from last weekend's hard-fought title retention in the Hawick Sevens, while this weekend they travel to Langholm to retain the trophy they have held for the last two seasons.

In addition to quality Sevens action there is a return for the popular Legends Exhibition game, with confirmed players including Gary Armstrong, Garath Archer, Craig Chalmers, Martin Shaw, Pete Massey, James Isaacson, Ross Cook and a return to Kingston Park for Dave Walder, who will kick conversions. Also considering a return are Newcastle favourites John Bentley, Tim Stimpson, Peter Walton, George Graham and Alan Tait.

The Falcons Sevens form part of a weekend that promises to be packed with action.

Tickets, priced at pounds 5, can be booked by calling 0871 226 60 60 or by calling at Kingston Park.