The smile on the face of Rob Andrew said it all about Newcastle Falcons' first away win in the Heineken Cup, a 10-6 victory against the Newport Gwent Dragons at Rodney Parade.
"A win away from home in the Heineken Cup is as difficult as anything there is - especially in those conditions and when we were down to 14 men for the final 10 minutes. It was our best ever result in Europe," said the Falcons Director of Rugby.
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I don't think there was a single person in Europe who thought we were going to win at Rodney Parade. These Heineken Cup games are massive one-off occasions and we got our tactics spot on against the Dragons.
"Perpignan will be a totally different challenge this week. It was a great start for us, but there is still a long road ahead of us."
And Heineken Man of the Match Dave Walder praised the spirit and character of his side. "We've had a difficult month with three defeats and a draw, but the spirit and character shown by the whole side has been great. We can take massive confidence from this victory into our next game against Perpignan," he said.
Meanwhile the Falcons have confirmed that the club will not be appealing the four-week ban given to American lock Luke Gross during Saturday's Heineken Cup win at Newport Gwent Dragons. Gross was red carded by referee Donal Courtney during the second half, and given the four-week suspension at a disciplinary hearing immediately after the match
