Confidence is key to success.

Byline: Nick Purewal

RARELY in recent years have west country rugby giants dished out bonus-point wins to visiting hordes.

But a strange Guinness Premiership only became more topsy-turvy at the weekend, because while Newcastle were dispatching Bath at The Rec, Wasps were doing likewise at Kingsholm.

Life under former Scotland scrum-half Bryan Redpath has not been too kind to Gloucester as yet, and the 35-6 home Wasps defeat at the weekend only compounded a sticky start.

Such contrasting Saturday South West fortunes were stark enough to make the man up North put in a courtesy call to his close friend and former international team-mate.

Alan Tait has never minced a wsord in his life, so when the assistant Falcons coach picked up the phone the gesture will doubtless have been appreciated.

Empathy came easily for Tait too, after those three draws and Saracens defeat that could so easily have been Falcons wins - and of course the first part of last season until the landmark win at Bristol.

That elusive attribute, confidence, was high on the agenda for the pair, with Tait aware just how transient it can be.

Newcastle would not let it go on Saturday, two scores from Charlie Amesbury and one each for James Hudson and Micky Young enough for the high-tempo win.

Telling Redpath to stick to his guns, Tait pinpointed the Young try as turning the Newcastle tide.

"I rang Bryan up on Monday," said Tait. "I just wanted to give him a bit of encouragement.

"I called him because he's a good friend of mine and I knew he would be going through a tough time.

"I just wanted to try to give him a boost and the word he used was confidence and where you get it from.

"Luck has got a lot to do with it, you just get the bounce of the ball or a try at the right moment.

"Micky's interception was like that for us, he still had to run 80 metres of course but that little bit of luck really helped us. A small break like that can make a big difference and the confidence comes flooding back.

"The Premiership is a pressure pot, and maybe that's restricting the rugby a little.

There's a lot of teams beating each other at the moment and we want to make Kingston Park as much of a fortress as we can."

Worcester come calling at Kingston Park on Sunday (kickoff 3pm), with Tait expecting another stern examination of Newcastle's credentials. Admitting the Falcons might just have hit form rather sooner than he expected, Tait also said he has warned the players not to get ahead of themselves.

"It was always going to take time and to be honest it's probably happened quicker than I thought," he said. "I thought it might take until Christmas until we really got into synch with each other.

"I'm really delighted we've got this win, especially against Bath, going around the club you can see the boys have got smiles on their faces and their chests are puffed out a little bit. You can't take away what a great result that was for us, but they must remember that's just the start of it now and they have to do it all over again on Sunday.

"We've got to put our Newcastle style of play onto it and take it forward again. Worcester will be desperate to curtail our run but we've got to perform.

"Last year we drew at home to Worcester when we should have won. We know they are a stuffy side who will dog it out as much as they can. But hopefully if we keep believing in our systems that will pull us through on Sunday."

CAPTION(S):

ADVICE Alan Tait (left) and Redpath. STUNG BY THE WASPS Mark Van Gisbergen of Wasps wriggles out of a tackle to score against Gloucester.