Newcastle Falcons vs Gloucester Prediction: Falcons can soar into semis

Newcastle Falcons boss Steve Diamond believes the Premiership Rugby Cup provides a great opportunity for silverware this season and they will be going all out to win Friday night’s (19:45) clash with Gloucester at Kingston Park.

Alex Jack provides his best bets in his Newcastle Falcons vs Gloucester prediction piece, as well as all the essential team news and match odds for the clash up in the north east.

Team News

Starting with Newcastle, Adam Brocklebank, Jamie Blamire and Murray McCallum start in the front row, with Sebastian de Chaves and Kiran McDonald in the second row.

The back row consists of Philip van der Walt, Freddie Lockwood and Callum Chick, who will wear the captain’s armband on Friday night.

Sam Stuart and Brett Connon start in the half-backs, with Max Clark and Sammy Arnold pairing up in the centre.

Alex Hearle, Oli Spencer and Elliot Obatoyinbo start in the back three for the hosts.

As for the visitor, Archie McArthur, Morgan Nelson and Alfie Petch start in the front row, with locks Freddie Stevens and Josh Gray in behind.

A back row of Jacob Wills, Caio James and Olly Allport completes the pack, while it’s Mike Austin and Charlie Atkinson in the half-backs.

Morgan Adderly-Jones and skipper Will Butler form the centres, while Louis Hillman-Cooper, Jack Cotgreave and Ioan Jones form the back three for Gloucester.

Match Odds, Newcastle Falcons vs Gloucester

Newcastle are the strong favourites at 1/7 for the win, while Gloucester are 9/2 to head back to the West Country with a victory in the 80 minutes.

A draw at the end of regular time is currently 20/1.

Newcastle Falcons -12 handicap @ 4/5

Different teams use the Premiership Rugby Cup in different ways and Newcastle clearly see it as an opportunity to win silverware this season.

Diamond joked his rock-bottom Premiership side were unlikely to win the Grand Final at Twickenham this season, while the Falcons also find themselves out of Europe.

Newcastle have selected a far more experienced squad than that of this week’s opponents Gloucester, who have decided to call up four players in the form of Stevens, Gray, Wells and Austin from their under-18s team.

The Cherry & Whites are using this competition to blood new talent and, while that should serve them well in the long run, they might be in for a tough night at Kingston Park.

Newcastle have power in the pack and the quality in the backline to win and cover the handicap on Friday night, as they look to soar through to the Premiership Rugby Cup semi-finals to host either Bath or Harlequins.

Rugby Union Betting Tips from Betfred Insights.