Newcastle given a stern test in Championship opener
NEWCASTLE got their Championship campaign off to a winning start but it was far from the dominant display expected of the Premiership’s relegated side.
Director of rugby Dean Richards admitted it was a ‘wake up call’ for his side and admitted the wet conditions were a problem.
“I think London Scottish played the conditions better than we did, we tried to play too much in the wrong area,” Richards said.
“We didn’t adapt to the conditions and that’s a wake up call for us. Thankfully we came away with the win.”
Scottish, who had matched Falcons’ three wins from three in the Cup, found themselves trailing 7-0 after just four minutes
Toby Flood carried into the the 22 and offloaded to Tom Arscott who had Adam Radwan on his shoulder who ran into the corner to score. Flood converted.
Over the next 10 minutes the Falcons dominated possession and territory, with Flood using his superb kicking to keep Scottish pinned in their own 22.
The rain started to fall hard, and the sodden pitch and slippery ball proved to be a huge problem for both sides, who collectively conceded 34 penalties across the 80 minutes.
Scottish began to grow into the game, good carries from Rob Stevenson and Elliott Creed carrying them up to the 22. Falcons were forced to concede a penalty and Harry Sheppard took the easy three points to make it 7-3 with 15 mins played.
Flood’s boot kept the pressure on Scottish, and a lineout deep in the Scottish 22 set up the second try. The ball went through the hands to George Wacokecoke who found a gap in the defensive line to give him an easy run in under the posts. Flood converted and Falcons led 14-3 after 20 minutes.
The rest of the half passed almost without incident, with neither side able to go more than four or five phases before knocking on. The best opportunity came for Scottish with a minute left on the clock.
Falcons were penalised a number of times in quick succession gifting Scottish a 5m lineout but as the maul was formed, Scottish were penalised for obstruction
and the Falcons cleared.
Conditions deteriorated further in the second half, and for the first 35 minutes Scottish were pinned in their own half.
Flood kept Scottish pinned in their half with strong running from Arscott and Radwan forcing Scottish to make an endless stream of tackles.
The half finally came to life five minutes from the end, whilst pinned in their own half Matas Jurevicius found some space in his own 22 with a step and ran into the Falcons half.
Falcons were penalised at the breakdown and Scottish kicked for another lineout. Luke Frost gathered and offloaded to Josh Barton, who pinged it to Matt Gordon who scored in the corner. Barnes converted to bring the Exiles to within a point at 14-13 but a Flood penalty at the death kept Scottish at bay.
Scottish head coach Graham Steadman said: “We were a bit tactically naive at times, offering them space behind to exploit. Flood did that well and it let them put us under a lot of pressure.”