May the force be with Jonny
fast feet of Leicester full-back Telusa Veainu, whose step is the nearest thing the Premiership has seen to Jason Robinson since Billy Whizz retired.
Veainu reduced Alex Tait to a waxwork in scoring in the 11th minute and scythed through again to put Ben Youngs in.
Vereniki Goneva hit back for Newcastle against his old club after a one-two with Tait just before the break, but Leicester turned the screw after the interval with Ford, who kicked 15 points, punishing the Falcons from the tee before setting up May for the killer blow.
He took the flat kick 30 metres out and burned off the defence with his pace to deliver another nudge to Eddie Jones ahead of England’s Test against Argentina on November 11.
Newcastle left empty-handed, leaving director of rugby Dean Richards feeling an opportunity had been missed in front of a captive audience. He largely blamed his side’s shortcomings but could not resist a jab at the Leicester front row.
“They’ve got the messiest scrum in the league and got away with a huge amount,” he said. “We’re disappointed. We’re a better side than that. We were inaccurate and that cost us.”
In yesterday’s other top-flight game, Owen Williams kicked barred the entrance to the parade ring after the first race. The meeting was consequently abandoned.
British trainers Charlie Appleby, James Tate, Harry Dunlop and Karl Burke had sent horses to Gloucester to a tense and dramatic 22-21 victory over West Country rivals Bath at the Rec. Williams converted Ed Slater’s try five minutes into stoppagetime to snatch the win.
ELLIOT DALY is facing a race to be fit for England’s autumn internationals after missing this week’s training camp because of a knee injury. Centre Daly did not travel to Portugal for the get-together yesterday after sustaining the injury in Wasps’ 38-22 win over Northampton.
Prop Matt Mullan also missed the flight after injuring his elbow in the same game, while Saints’ fly-half Piers Francis hobbled off with an ankle problem. the meeting along with Irioshman Aidan O’Brien, who had hoped to have five runners in his quest to add to his record 26 Group 1 wins.
Harry Herbert, who runs the Highclere Racing Syndicates, said: “Twenty-five owners have flown over and it has dashed a lot of hopes. A lot of people are very disappointed.
“We don’t see this at home and although I know this does happen here from time to time, I have never been involved in it before. I am just very disappointed for my owners.”