Some finishes are so tight it is impossible not to feel for the downcast losers. This north-east cliffhanger certainly belonged in that category, with Leicester having to channel the spirit of Harry Houdini to record their second improbable away win of the season. Richard Cockerill conceded his side had been “lucky”; his old Tigers team-mate Dean Richards felt the hosts had received little justice.
It would all have been academic had Joel Hodgson, from point-blank range in front of the posts in perfect conditions, not dragged a potentially match-winning drop goal wide. Given Leicester were down to 14 men at the time and had contentiously avoided being penalised at the two final scrums of the match, the verdicts of both Cockerill and Richards were perfectly valid.
Cockerill was also right to point out that “neither side played well enough to take the referee out of the equation”. Newcastle, in particular, failed to nail down three more clear try-scoring opportunities and missed two kickable penalties. It was interesting, even so, to hear Richards relaying a wry conversation he had with Leicester’s assistant coach Geordan Murphy on the sidelines as the dramatic final seconds ticked down. Murphy suggested to Richards that the referee JP Doyle “was never going to give a deciding penalty on the basis of the scrum going backwards”. Lo and behold he was proved right, even when Tom Youngs and Ellis Genge were forced up and out of the scrum by their frenzied opponents.
The reluctance of officials to make match-turning last-gasp calls is entirely natural but, equally, that is their job. An 80th minute offence has to count the same as one committed in the first or 31st; Newcastle’s achievement in shoving the visitors off their own ball with the clock showing zero deserved greater reward. “If [the referee] was consistent, he would have looked at what went on before,” Richards said. “It is a tough call to make that decision in the final minute but it probably would have been the right one.”
Then again the Falcons only won on the opening weekend because Sale’s kicker, Dan Mugford, missed a last-second penalty; on this occasion the boot was on the other foot. It made for a truly gripping finish, with Dominic Waldouck being hauled down six metres short by the one-time local favourite Mathew Tait, when a match-winning try seemed imminent against a Tigers defence lacking the sin-binned Peter Betham. The Falcons were also left to lament a disallowed try when Waldouck was penalised for a double movement. “If he thinks that is a double movement perhaps he needs to go to the TMO to check,” Richards said. “You’ve got to double-check things like that. When you look at the opportunities we didn’t take it’s pretty frustrating ... we should have won.”
Cockerill agreed, admitting his team “have a lot of things to fix” prior to the home game against an in-form Bath on Sunday. Ultimately the Tigers were indebted to a try from the industrious Mike Fitzgerald and three penalties from Freddie Burns, not to mention Hodgson and Newcastle’s starting fly-half, Mike Delany, who struck a post with a first-half penalty attempt that really should have gone over.
The players could hardly blame the weather. It was warm enough on the sunny clubhouse side of the ground before kick-off to make it feel more like Sabina Park, Kingston than Kingston Park, Newcastle. There was barely even a breeze to sway the local palm trees and the artificial turf merely seemed to add to Leicester’s discomfort. This was summer rugby in every respect bar the date and the Falcons, keen to play more rugby this year, did their best to take advantage.
The home side could have registered three tries before half-time alone but managed only one, scored in the sixth minute when the scrum-half Sonatane Takulua slipped the Argentinian centre Juan Pablo Socino through a midfield gap to score by the posts. A subsequent concerted period of forward pressure should have produced further reward, only for the ball to be spilt at the crucial moment.
Leicester have made a habit of starting sluggishly this season, having won from 31-7 down against Gloucester before giving Wasps too much of a head start in round two. They were fortunate not to go further behind here, when only their expertise at slowing down the Falcons’ ball at the rucks and valiant defence kept them afloat.
Mark Wilson, Simon Hammersley and the replacement Daniel Temm all deserved better but a failure to turn pressure into points against Leicester is never a recipe for happiness. A second Burns penalty gave the Tigers the lead for the first time entering the final half-hour and the Falcons started to make the costly errors that undid them so spectacularly in Bath the previous week.
Betham’s removal threw them one last lifeline. After Will Witty had broken clear, only for his pass to bobble forward, – no laughing matter – salvation beckoned again when Leicester’s scrum splintered one final time. It should have won the Falcons the game but a combination of the fates, indecisive officiating and Hodgson’s snap hook decreed otherwise.
Newcastle Hammersley; Goneva, Waldouck, Socino, Sinoti; Delany (Hodgson, 60), Takulua (Young, 61); Vickers, Lawson (Sowrey, 72) Welsh, Green, Olmstead (Witty, 66), Wilson, Welch (capt), Hogg (Temm, 69).
Tries Socino. Con Delany. Pens Delany, Hodgson.
Leicester Tait (capt); Veainu, Betham, Williams (Roberts, 65), Pietersen; Burns (Thompstone, 80), B Youngs; Genge, McGuigan (T Youngs, 50), Cole, Fitzgerald (Slater, 72), Kitchener, Williams, O’Connor, Hamilton (Evans, 66).
Try Fitzgerald. Pens Burns 3.
Sin-bin Betham 71.
Referee JP Doyle (RFU). Attendance 6,570.
