Newcastle opened their Zurich Premiership account on a winning note at
Kingston Park this afternoon but defeat was tough on Wasps.
All of the Falcons points came from the prolific boot of England fly-half
Jonny Wilkinson and his side never looked like scoring a try as they failed to
show any imagination in attack.
They struggled to compete up front against a Wasps pack which boasted five
England internationals and even when they won truckloads of possession later in
the second half they could not make any impression.
Instead it was left to Wasps to give the crowd something to cheer about as
they touched down through Josh Lewsey and Mark Denney for a well-worked try in
each half - and they could scored several more had they taken their chances.
Wasps enjoyed the better of the opening exchanges, denying Newcastle any
quality possession and forcing them into some desperate scrambling defence.
The Falcons made some ferocious hits to deal with the threat, the biggest
coming from Tongan flanker Epi Taione, but eventually the visitors created the
first try-scoring opportunity.
Full-back Lewsey found himself in space out wide on the right and with a clear
overlap outside him he fed the unmarked Shane Rosier only for the Wasps winger
to over-run the pass with the line begging.
But the London club was not to be denied in the 20th minute when former Wales
skipper Rob Howley, signed during the summer and making his first start in the
Premiership, broke from the back of a scrum and sped upfield before offloading
to Lewsey who touched down .
Alex King added the conversion but man-of-the-match Wilkinson nudged his side
ahead with three quickfire penalties.
Despite Newcastle's lead, it was still Wasps who were playing all the
attacking rugby and in the 35th minute they missed another glorious chance.
Some swift hands from the visitors' backline saw the ball spun out left to
Lawrence Dallaglio but the England number eight chose to go it alone when Lewsey
was available outside him and was hauled down short of the line.
The home pack was struggling up front giving Wasps a steady stream of
possession which King used to good effect at number 10, quickly spreading the
ball wide and putting in some neat crossfield bombs which kept the Falcons
guessing.
Newcastle enjoyed a dominant spell five minutes after the interval but their
efforts amounted to little as they failed to make any serious inroads into
Wasps' defence.
Instead, the visitors retook the lead with the next attack of the game when
Denney gathered up a short, flat pass from Howley to scamper over under the
posts for a try which was converted by King.
But the advantage did not last long as Wilkinson slotted another three
penalties to wrestle the initiative back in Newcastle's favour as his side
finally started to take a grip on the match.
Taione made one barnstorming run up the centre of the pitch, charging 50 yards
and beating several players only to be halted just inside Wasps' 22 by some
desperate defence.
Dallaglio was then sin-binned for a professional foul and Newcastle took full
advantage by forcing another couple of penalties which Wilkinson stroked over,
before King kicked three points deep into injury time to earn his side a bonus
point.
Teams
Newcastle: Botham, Shaw, Noon, May, Stephenson, J.
Wilkinson,
Charlton, Peel, Brotherstone, Hurter, Vyvyan, Grimes, Taione,
Dowson, Dunbar.
Not Used: Grindal, Godman, Hamilton, Devonshire, Otuvaka, Ward,
Thompson.
Pens: J. Wilkinson 8.
Wasps: Lewsey, Roiser, Abbott,
Denney, Logan, A. King, Howley,
Dowd, Greening, W. Green, Shaw, Birkett, Worsley, Volley,
Dallaglio.
Not Used: Bijon, Rudd, Wigran, Gotting, Beardshaw, Molloy,
McCarthy.
Tries: Lewsey, Denney.
Cons: A. King 2.
Pens: A. King.
Att: 7,260
Ref: R Goodliffe (Sheffield (RFU)).
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