Bath 18 (8) Tries: Borthwick, Daniel (2) Pen: Malone Newcastle 33 (23) Tries: McCarthy, May (2), Stephenson Con: Wilkinson (2) Pen: Wilkinson Drops: Wilkinson (2)

Fly-half Wilkinson, favourite to be named new England captain, booted 13 points in a comfortable away victory.

Despite losing back row forward Phil Dowson to a red card the Falcons - who scored four tries - finished as deserved winners.

Bath hit back through wing Brendon Daniel (2) and lock Steve Borthwick, but always looked second best.

With Wilkinson in the driving seat, Newcastle blew Bath away inside the opening 26 minutes.

Flanker Mike McCarthy, Tom May and his fellow wing Michael Stephenson all capitalised on sloppy Bath defence.

Daniel scored his pair during the final quarter, but his contribution was interrupted by May's second try, which made the game safe for the visitors.

Referee Steve Lander reached for his red card during the closing minutes after a needless brawl which owed much to Bath's frustration.

Dowson was shown a straight red, and he can now expect a minimum three-week ban, while May was sin-binned.

I cannot accept a performance like that and do nothing about it Bath coach John Connolly

However, Newcastle claim the referee sent off the wrong player when he dismissed Dowson and they plan to appeal.

"We think it was a case of mistaken identity," said Newcastle's Rob Andrew. "We believe the touch judge got the wrong number, and we'll deal with it."

Fly-half Jonny Wilkinson said he was pleased to have started with two wins.

"We've had an interesting start," said the England star. "Worcester was always going to be an unknown, but we knew what to expect at Bath."

Bath coach John Connolly was fuming after seeing last season's Premiership runners-up well beaten.

"We will be training at 10am tomorrow," said the Australian.

"Mentally, we struggled, and in terms of defence we had the numbers there but we just didn't make the tackle.

"I cannot accept a performance like that and do nothing about it. People have got to be accountable about what they do out there."

Bath: Maddock, Crockett, Davey, Tindall, Daniel, Malone, Wood, Barnes, Humphreys, Bell, Borthwick, Grewcock, Beattie, Lipman, Fea'unati.
Replacements: Walshe, Mears, Stevens, Fleck, Lewitt, Scaysbrook, Delve.

Newcastle: Shaw, May, Noon, Mayerhofler, Stephenson, J. Wilkinson, Grindal, Peel, Long, Hurter, Gross, Grimes, McCarthy, Charvis, Dowson.
Replacements: Ward, Thompson, Hamilton, Sititi, Burke, Charlton, Walder.

Referee: S Lander (England)