Richards hails Falcons as ‘magnificent’ after halting Exeter’s run
Newcastle 28 Exeter 20 Att: 7,174
Newcastle did to a lacklustre Exeter what the Chiefs did to everyone else on their way to the top of the Premiership: Dean Richards’ side harried and hassled, closed down space and applied so much pressure that it suffocated the champions and forced errors upon which the Falcons greedily seized.
The result was three first-half tries that gave Newcastle a 25-3 interval lead which the Premiership leaders would have overhauled had the injury-ravaged Falcons not defended with determination.
After the Chiefs’ first pointless result in 33 games, Rob Baxter, director of rugby, agreed they deserved nothing. As for Newcastle, a sixth successive win moved them to sixth in the Premiership.
“I was delighted with the first half and we were magnificent in the second,” said Richards. “They’re quality but we knocked them back time and time again.”
This match turned on two Falcons tries in three first-half minutes. The first contained two offences, the first when Sean Robinson came from offside at a ruck to strip Exeter scrum-half Nick White. Falcons scrum-half Mike Young then broke down the blindside and prop Rob Vickers fed Sinoti Sinoti with a forward pass. After receiving the ball in his own half, the wing did well to squeeze over in the corner, with Toby Flood smacking an unsuccessful but quick drop-kick before the score could be reviewed.
If the Chiefs were hard done by on Sinoti’s try, Vereniki Goneva’s interception score from halfway two minutes later was a self-inflicted catastrophe, the wing picking off a nolook pass from skipper Jack Yeandle to wing Olly Woodburn.
Joel Hodgson’s boot extended Falcons’ lead after a high tackle on Kyle Cooper. Worse was to come just before half-time when Cooper forced his way over to make it 25-3.
The Chiefs started the second half with greater intensity and when the Falcons conceded a freekick for delaying a lineout, Sam Simmonds took a quick tap and forced his way over. Yet the Falcons frustrated the visitors, with Josh Matavesi’s boot ensuring every turnover returned the Chiefs to their own half.
With 15 minutes left, Woodburn wriggled over after a series of lineout drives and a scrum yet they still trailed by two scores. A Toby Salmon try made it 25-20, but when Exeter were penalised from the restart and Joel Hodgson ran down the clock before kicking a penalty, it was all over. Exeter had lost their first Premiership game since September.