Takulua batters Northampton into submission
win like that gives us massive confidence but it will be short-lived if we go out and get thumped next week. The proof of the pudding will be what happens away at Exeter and against Saracens, but year on year we’ve been improving, even if people only realise that when you start overtaking them.”
Northampton completely overpowered Newcastle in the early exchanges and almost immediately went ahead when Ben Foden came off his wing, sidestepped one defender and drew two more before putting Ken Pisi over in the right corner.
The Falcons’ poor start soon got worse, Foden making a lovely break down the left before kicking ahead. The Saints recovered the ball just short of the Newcastle line and flanker Jamie Gibson forced his way through two tacklers for the second try.
With just five minutes gone, Newcastle trailed by 14 points, but Richards has infused his side with real determination and they soon hit back, scrum-half Takulua kicking a penalty after Northampton infringed at the scrum, only for Stephen Myler to reply almost immediately. The balance of play was shifting, though, and Newcastle scored their first try when the ball was moved smartly right. After a Niki Goneva half-break was followed by a series of forward drives, Takulua squeezed over to make it 10-17.
However, Newcastle found themselves falling further behind as Northampton scored a try of rare beauty. Harry Mallinder threw a huge pass to full-back Ahsee Tuala, who drew the man and offloaded to Pisi, whose onehanded offload out of the tackle found Mallinder on the loop. It was slick, stylish and hugely effective.
It was also basically Northampton’s final hurrah. Newcastle regained their composure and their spirit of adventure resurfaced five minutes before the break when the ball was moved smartly right after a fine break from tighthead Jon Welsh. Goneva then flicked a glorious back-handed offload to lock Sean Robinson, who only had to fall over the line.
As soon as the match restarted Newcastle really cut loose. A sumptuous break by Juan Pablo Socino was followed by a series of glorious offloads between the Argentine, Alex Tait and Sinoti Sinoti, with prop Rob Vickers crashing over from close range. The Falcons then reclaimed the restart and scored immediately, Sinoti picking up the ball on halfway and charging down the wing before cutting inside and passing to the onrushing Takulua.
After two tries in the three minutes after the break, Newcastle were now in full cry and added a fifth try minutes later, bamboozling the Saints defence with another offloading masterclass from Socino and Sinoti, with Takulua once again on hand to claim his hat-trick.
Another Sinoti break created a try for hooker Kyle Cooper and although Northampton gained scant consolation with a Mikey Haywood bonus-point try, Newcastle had the last word with a swarming 20-yard rolling maul for a Mark Wilson try to cap a remarkable afternoon. Henry Slade has managed just 20 minutes on the international field since Eddie Jones succeeded Stuart Lancaster and began to steer England towards recordbreaking feats.
Yet as far as Rob Baxter, the Exeter director of rugby, is concerned, Slade, who battled back from a badly broken leg at the start of last year, is still destined for international greatness once the balance of his playing time with club and country has been resolved.
Slade showed some glimpses of his handling and running skills after switching from inside centre to flyhalf midway through the victory over Worcester, and Baxter insisted: “It was valuable game time for Henry, playing at 10 when Gareth Steenson had to come off. He showed a couple of lax touches to start with but then a couple of really good ones, too. It was certainly a nice offload to Campo [Michele Campagnaro] for his try.”
Exeter are starting to resemble the attacking threat which made them Premiership finalists last May and the seven-try victory over Worcester that drew them level on points with secondplaced Saracens in the table, shows they are hitting form at a good time.