FIRST TEAM
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS 59 NEWCASTLE RED BULLS 26
Newcastle Red Bulls took a battling bonus point away to champions Northampton Saints as the Gallagher PREM season started in full-blooded fashion on Friday.
Werner Kok’s try with the very last play handed a small share of the spoils to a new-look Red Bulls side who kept on fighting until the end.
The home side led 31-14 at the break and opened the scoring inside four minutes when a counter-attack and a sequence of close-range carries ended with the ball being worked to the short-side for full-back James Pater to score.
Fin Smith added the touchline conversion from the left, but the sides were level again on 11 minutes when a Werner Kok break down the left ended with a try for opposite wing Christian Wade, who was fed down the right-hand side from a well-worked advantage.
The Red Bulls were reduced to 14 men when Harrison Obatoyinbo was sin-binned for a trip, and the champions made the extra man count almost instantly when simple hands along the line enabled Pater to dot down in the right corner.
Smith’s conversion bounced back off the right post, but he regained his range just after the quarter mark when a line-out on half-way and a scything run from George Hendy was the winger speed home for a converted score.
England’s Tommy Freeman wrapped up the four-try bonus point when he scored an unconverted try down the left from another series of quick offloads, his side ruthlessly making the extra man tell before Obatoyinbo’s return to the field.
Newcastle regained a modicum of momentum once restored to their full quota of 15, and were held up over the try-line when a series of hard, direct carries got them deep into the home half.
They forced their way over on 36 minutes when another close-range advantage was used to good effect, the visitors sucking in the defensive numbers before floating the ball wide for Wade to score his second try in the right corner.
Zack Henry added the touchline conversion on his league debut having replaced Brett Connon due to a head knock, but the champions had the last say of the half when England lock Alex Coles collected an offload to score a converted try with the very last play.
That put Northampton 31-14 up at the break, and the Red Bulls’ cause was further hampered after the resumption when prop Pouri Rakete-Stones was sin-binned for a head-on-head tackle.
The champions were once again ruthless in exploiting the extra space, and having once been held up over the try-line there was no stopping them on 48 minutes when Freeman sped in down the right for his second try of the evening.
Back to their full quota of 15, the visitors grew back into the game and registered their third try on 57 minutes, three PREM debutants combining as Kok’r run, the support of Hoskins Sotutu and the close-range power of Cam Jordan allowed the latter to score from a close-range pick down the left.
Henry added the conversion, but his side were soon under their own posts when Northampton played advantage to good effect in laying on a hat-trick score for Freeman down the right.
There was further pain when Ollie Sleightholme scored with his very first touch and Pater completed his hat-trick three minutes from time, but Kok had the last say when the winger was awarded his bonus-point score in the left corner following a lengthy TMO review.
Northampton Saints: 15 James Pater, 14 Tommy Freeman (Ollie Sleightholme, 72), 13 Rory Hutchinson, 12 Fraser Dingwall (captain), 11 George Hendy, 10 Fin Smith (Anthony Belleau, 72), 9 Archie McParland (Alex Mitchell, 56); 1 Emmanuel Iyogun, 2 Curtis Langdon (Robbie Smith, 56), 3 Cleopas Kundiona, 4 Alex Coles, 5 Ed Prowse, 6 Josh Kemeny, 7 Henry Pollock, 8 Callum Chick.
Scorers - Tries: James Pater 3, George Hendy, Tommy Freeman 3, Alex Coles, Ollie Sleightholme. Conversions: Fin Smith 5, Anthony Belleau 2.
Newcastle Red Bulls: 15 Harrison Obatoyinbo, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Alex Hearle, 12 Chris Harris, 11 Werner Kok, 10 Brett Connon (Zack Henry, 24), 9 James Elliott (Simón Benítez Cruz, 52); 1 Pouri Rakete-Stones (Tom West, 52), 2 George McGuigan (Ollie Fletcher, 56), 3 Elliot Millar Mills (James Harper, 56), 4 Oscar Usher (Franco Molina, 44), 5 Cam Jordan, 6 Max Hicks (Hoskins Sotutu, 50), 7 Tom Christie (captain, Ollie Leatherbarrow, 64), 8 Sam Graham.
Scorers - Tries: Christian Wade 2, Cam Jordan, Werner Kok. Conversions: Brett Connon, Zack Henry 2.
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe.
