Back sets target of two more wins for Carnegie

The head coach spoke ahead of the crunch match against Wasps on Sunday at Adams Park.

“A couple of weeks ago I believed it was only two that we’d got to win but obviously we’ve won two now,” Back said.

“We’ve got to win two of our three remaining games and that’s a big ask. We’ve won four Premiership games all season.

“It’s a tough job. Our backs are against the wall and all we can do is focus on ourselves.”

Leeds’s last gasp 30-29 victory against Newcastle Falcons on Saturday lifted them off the bottom of the table and kept alive their hopes of playing Premiership rugby next season, but Back believes his side still have it all to do.

“It gives us an opportunity, and keeps things very much in our own hands,” he said.

“It was a small step taken but hopefully it will prove to be a massive stride forward.

“Wasps are not in great form at the moment but are fighting and desperate to move up the Premiership table so it looks a big job for us at the weekend.”

Back praised his team’s mental strength during the closing stages in Newcastle before fly-half Adrian Jarvis kicked the match-winning drop-goal.

“It showed that the leadership is strong within the team,” he said. “If we’d have lost that game it would have been catastrophic.

“We had to stay right in there fighting, keeping our belief and momentum and that’s what we did until the final whistle.

“A less mentally tough team may have folded.”

The England World Cup winner emphasised the importance of winning their next games to avoid a potential situation where they finish level with Newcastle and relegation being decided on the two sides’ points difference.

“We’ve got to be ahead,” he said. “I think if we’re level with the way it looks at the moment then we’d finish last.”

His players were given 48 hours off to recover after the Newcastle match and Back believes that will put them in a good position to return strongly against a Wasps side with the poorest form in the league having won just five points from their last six matches

“We’re in a good place, we’re full of belief,” he said. “On paper, it’s a game you’d say Wasps would win, but looking on form this is one that we’re going in as favourites.”

However, Back warned his players not be complacent against a team eager to climb back up the table.

“They’re under pressure – for what they’ve got, the players they’ve got, the resources they’ve got, to be eighth is totally unacceptable,” he said.

“They’ll be looking to get a win and push up the table. Our recent form suggests we’re better equipped, but it’s a one-off game.”

Back revealed that he will be at the Leeds Rhinos match against Huddersfield Giants tonight but said it would be hard not to keep an eye on Newcastle’s encounter with Northampton.

“I’m not going to lie – at the back of my mind I’ll know that game’s being played, the result of which could be massive,” he said. “Northampton can do us a huge favour.”

Injuries have been a constant nuisance to Leeds this season but Back welcomed the return to fitness of key players Lachlan Mackay, Scott Barrow and Tom Denton for the trip to Wycombe.

Carnegie’s multi-millionaire benefactor Paul Caddick, meanwhile, said prior to the Newcastle match that Leeds would not be thrown into a financial crisis if they were relegated, but ‘tough decisions’ would have to be made.

Back echoed those words and said relegation would have a huge effect on the project he has built.

“Inevitably, being relegated would be a huge blow to the club, and to what we’ve managed to build over the last three years,” he said.

“It would mean changes and that would be in the playing and management staff. The limiting factor of Leeds progressing is finance, so if that’s cut that would further limit the opportunities to be successful in the Premiership or in the Championship.”

[email protected]