Va'aiga Tuigamala came off the bench to inspire Newcastle to a hard-fought
victory over plucky Rotherham at Kingston Park on Sunday afternoon.
The home side trailed to their winless visitors until Tuigamala made his
appearance at inside centre five minutes after half-time.
Tuigamala's physical presence caused panic in the Rotherham defences and
although the Samoan didn't score himself, he was heavily involved in Andrew
Mower's try which put Newcastle in front and Jim Jenner's late effort which
sealed victory and a valuable bonus point.
Once again Rotherham had a hard-luck story to tell.
The disastrous goal-kicking form of full-back Mike Umaga continued.
Not only did he fail with a conversion and two penalty shots, all at vital
times, his team were forced to turn down a number of kickable chances because of
the Samoan's unreliability.
In contrast, Newcastle fly-half Jonny Wilkinson was in majestic form, his 100%
record from seven attempts only spoiled by his failure to convert an ambitious
penalty shot from inside his own half.
With two wins and two defeats on the board already, Newcastle's
inconsistencies were highlighted within an opening 40 minutes which they
dominated but trailed because of their own indiscipline.
Having produced an exhilarating display of running rugby, in which Tongan
winger Epeli Taione was very much to the fore, the Falcons should have led by
more than John Leslie's converted try after 10 minutes.
Prop George Graham was sin-binned for an off-the-ball offence which led to
opposite number James Thorp being helped from the field and in the Newcastle
man's temporary absence, Rotherham scored twice. Both tries were similar in
their execution, the Newcastle defence wilting in the centres to allow Jim
Naylor and Umaga to cross under the posts.
Even Umaga couldn't fail to convert Rotherham's tries and the Yorkshire side
swept into a seven-point lead.
In an often fractious contest, during which Graham was fortunate to escape
another censure for a blatant condemnation of referee Ed Morrison, fly-half
Jonny Wilkinson reduced the arrears shortly before the break with a 20-metre
penalty.
If Rotherham possessed a player with a boot as accurate as Wilkinson,
Newcastle could have been buried.
Instead, Umaga four times turned down kickable penalty shots in favour of
punts to the corner which brought no reward.
Andrew Mower made them pay when the flanker weaved his way to the line at the
other end, only for Rotherham hooker Terry Garnett to finish off a close range
drive to the corner almost immediately afterwards when the visitors once again
spurned a penalty chance in favour of a line-out.
Not surprisingly, Wilkinson landed his conversion and Umaga didn't so when the
England stand-off stroked over from the corner following Liam Botham's try 16
minutes from time, Newcastle's advantage stood at five.
Jim Jenner's final effort after Tuigamala had seized upon the loose ball when
Nigel Simpson dropped Umaga's long pass in front of his own posts eased the home
side further clear.
Wilkinson's conversion and subsequent penalty merely confirmed the horrible
truth. Rotherham are doomed unless they can find a reliable goalkicker.
Newcastle: Cook, Botham, May, Leslie, Taione,
Wilkinson,
Armstrong, Graham, Nesdale, Peel, Vyvyan, Weir, Arnold, Mower,
Beattie.
Replacements: Tuigamala for Leslie (45), Grimes for Weir (41),
Ward for Arnold (26), Jenner for Beattie (71).
Not Used: Charlton, Balshen, Devonshire.
Sin Bin: Graham (17).
Rotherham: Umaga, Simpson, Naylor,
Northey, Wood, Binns,
Harrison, Thorp, Garnett, Olver, Parr, Kenworthy, Schmid,
Spence, Fea'unati.
Replacements: Greaves for Northey (45),
Scully for Harrison (53), Bunting for Thorp (17),
Turner for Olver (68), Dudley for Parr (53),
Earnshaw for Spence (17).
Not Used: Wade.
Att: 2,735
Ref: Ed Morrison (RFU).
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