Fletcher urges England

Newcastle chief lauds Gloucester winger after his side's defeat

Last updated: 23rd February 2008

Gloucester v Newcastle February 2008 james simpson-daniel

Simpson-Daniel: Star of the show

James Simpson-Daniel was the best player on the pitch and how he isn't in the national fold I don't know.

John Fletcher
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James Simpson-Daniel has been backed to make an impact on the international scene by Newcastle director of rugby John Fletcher following Gloucester's 28-20 victory over the Falcons.

The 25-year-old winger has won just 10 caps for England so far, and last appeared on the ill-fated tour to South Africa in the summer.

Simpson-Daniel scored the first of Gloucester's three comeback tries at Kingsholm as the league leaders battled back from 20-9 down to take the points.

Fletcher has consequently handed the winger an open invitation to Kingston Park and suggested Brian Ashton should take note.

Praise

"James Simpson-Daniel was the best player on the pitch and how he isn't in the national fold I don't know," Fletcher said.

"He gave Gloucester a huge amount of go-forward and if that guy ever wants to come up to the North East, tell him to give me a call.

"Everything we did was first class, so the defeat is hard to take, but we've got to use it as fuel to move forward.

"The top six is a definite possibility."

Gloucester head coach Dean Ryan admitted his side were forced to fight tooth and nail for their victory meanwhile, which moves them five points clear at the top of the Guinness Premiership.

"We had to be patient but we got there in the end," Ryan said.

"It was a pretty competitive game and we probably made it more difficult than it needed to be.

"We didn't make them work for their 14 points before half-time and that increased the hurdles we had to get over.

"We could easily have lost through not having done a huge amount wrong."