Verdict on Newcastle Falcons can change depending on your vantage point
Whether or not Newcastle Falcons' season has been a failure depends from where you look at it, as Mark Smith discovered last weekend
Falcons forward Mark Wilson crosses for the first Newcastle try during the Aviva Premiership match between Gloucester Rugby and Newcastle Falcons at Kingsholm Stadium on April 25 (Image: 2015 Getty Images)
Perspective is everything, as I discovered on my way back from Newcastle Falcons' 42-40 loss at Gloucester last weekend.
Viewed from the driver's seat of a crumpled car facing the wrong way in the fast lane of the A1 after a three-vehicle smash, their inability to hold on to a 17-point lead with 13 minutes left to play seemed less of a disaster than it had done some hours earlier.
Your glass is naturally more inclined to be half full after walking away from the wreckage without so much as a scratch on you, or on any of the other parties.
Instead of dwelling on the physical slump during the closing quarter, I was marvelling at the attacking brilliance which had preceded it.
Rather than festering over the repeated defensive lapses, my thoughts were dominated by the solid set-piece which had laid the foundations for the now-customary series of line-breaks.
Let's see how long my new-found sense of euphoria can hold out.
The return of the cynical old hack is an inevitability at some stage during the coming weeks, but at least the Falcons can relax, with nothing crucial to play for. Sale Sharks away on Saturday and Harlequins at home the weekend after should give us a reasonable gauge of what awaits us next season, ahead of a five-month wait for the start of the new Premiership season.
That delay is thanks to the timing of the World Cup, the Falcons getting in on the act with the announcement of a friendly against the Georgian national side on August 28.
The Lelos, as they are known, might not yet be household names to most, but props from the former Soviet republic are taking the French leagues by storm.
Newcastle's scrum will certainly be given a work-out.