Tait enjoys his away day

IT was hardly pretty but Newcastle claimed a vital win at Gloucester to pull away from the early-season strugglers.

When Alex Tait squeezed over in the right-hand corner 15 minutes from time, the Falcons knew they were going to win their first away Premiership match for two years.

Tait (right) made the initial incision through the Gloucester defence, a quick phase later and Mike Delany skipped to within five metres. Tait was lurking on the blind side and found a way to the line.

Newcastle director of rugby Dean Richards said: ‘We said we wanted to win away once every two years!

‘Everybody put their body on the line, which was the nice thing.’

Dom Waldouck opened the scoring for the visitors with a try but Gloucester hit back, Ross Moriarty racing home. Billy Burns gave Gloucester the lead with a penalty after 22 minutes but Delany hit back with two for Newcastle.

Sale came back from 31-17 down to draw 34-34 at Worcester. AJ MacGinty’s kicking proved crucial as he landed two penalties and four conversions.