Dean Richards "happy" with Newcastle Falcons start

Dean Richards has admitted that he is "reasonably happy" with Newcastle Falcons' start to their Aviva Premiership season.

The Falcons beat London Irish 13-11 at Kingston Park on Sunday to move to eighth in the table following earlier wins in the campaign against Sale Sharks and Worcester Warriors.

"We've got three wins out of six and I'm reasonably happy," Richards told the club's official website. "It's all about performance and making sure that we are on top form in every game that we play. Week in and week out the lads are going out onto the pitch, striving to improve their game.

"We can grind out a win but we're not scoring many tries. There again we've not been playing in fantastic conditions other than that at Leicester where we had a bit of a hiding to be honest. Today was an arm wrestle in appalling conditions.

"For us we're now in these tight contests which is nice. The result was important, but it's your consistency throughout the year that's the important thing."

Newcastle travel to Saracens in their next match this coming Sunday.