Agony in the Sun

Flood’s running and fluent passing were redeeming features of a dreadful first half from Newcastle, and he and Jonny Wilkinson inspired what was almost a remarkable victory.

With Brent Wilson making his Falcons debut and fellow back-rower Phil Dowson starting for the first time in 51 weeks in John Fletcher’s first competitive game in charge of the Falcons, the away side attacked early on with Wilkinson setting up Anthony Elliot, who was tackled and as Northampton stole possession they came forward but knocked on.

Bruce Reihana opened the scoring with a penalty as we lost another lineout on our own throw, before going close in the corner but we won the loose ball.

The first Saints try wasn’t long in coming however, with the hosts winning a scrum against the head and David Quinlan scoring from close range, Reihana converting. Toby Flood then made an excellent break through the middle and passed to Jamie Noon as he reached the 22,

 but the latter dropped the ball, one of numerous handling errors today.

Reihana missed a penalty for Northampton, before we put together what could have been a decent move in midfield. The passing went awry however and as the Saints booted forward, Tom May was forced to gather and kick clear.

Flood then dropped the ball as the backs were unleashed following a 15m rolling maul around halfway, but referee David Rose gave us a penalty and Wilkinson scored our first points of the day, and the season. Reihana and Wilkinson exchanged further penalties for a 13-6 half-time scoreline. However, that is deceptive as the general consensus had Northampton as the better team by a mile, and they should have built up a larger score.

As it was Robbie Morris was sent on for David Wilson at the break and immediately out scrum looked more solid. Northampton missed a penalty after we lost a retaken lineout, before the Falcons’ comeback was started by Elliott who forced his way over on the left for a try which Wilkinson was unable to convert.

Brent Wilson then set off on a good run through the middle before a fluent attack sent Flood away, but as he was stopped just short of the line, Wilkinson took over to score, before converting to put the Falcons into the lead 18-13.

Northampton attacked ferociously to try to regain the advantage, and they were only denied a score initially by the TV official when driving over. From the resulting scrum though, replacement scrum-half Mark Robinson darted over the level the scores.

It was our turn to fight back now and we could have been in on the left but for a stray pass. It was on the right that our next try came, with Ben Woods free as Saints ran out of defenders to regain the lead. Crucially, Wilkinson missed the conversion. Northampton again came back at us, and their forwards were kept out by some lionheart defending in our 22.

However, once the backs got their chance, we were unable to cover Ben Cohen on the right, and Reihana converted the England wing’s try to put Northampton 25-23 up with minutes left.

The drama wasn’t over though, as with just three minutes left, the Falcons were given a penalty on the right. What to do? Kick and leave ourselves open to a drop-goal, or risk going for a try? We took the safe option, and Wilkinson stepped up… and sliced the kick across goal as Franklin’s Gardens rejoiced!

There was still time for Flood to miss a drop-goal, before Andy Buist inexplicably dropped the ball in a tackle on halfway, and the game was up, with a losing bonus point all to show from the season’s first Premiership match.

Regarding the Jekyll and Hyde nature of the Falcons today, if we can produce the second half performance more often, we should be comfortably safe in the Premiership this year, although top 4 is still a pipe-dream. Many more games like the first half, however and we will be in deep trouble.

The lineout today was just terrible, and too many tackles were missed at pace. Our forwards defended well in the loose, and even if they made several handling errors, the movement of the backs looked encouraging. There’s always next week.