Newcastle (14) 14
Try: Tu'ipulotu Pens: May 2 Drop: May Leicester (0) 10
Try: Youngs Con: Flood Pen: Flood
 Tane Tu'ipulotu's try helped Newcastle maintain their good run of form |
Newcastle ended leaders Leicester's run of five straight Premiership wins as they made it seven victories from their last eight league matches. The Falcons were soon into their stride with Tongan Tane Tu'ipulotu touching down after 13 minutes. Tom May added two penalties and a drop- goal to give the hosts a 14-0 lead at the break after a dominant opening. Toby Flood's solitary penalty failed to spark a comeback, with Ben Youngs' late score no more than a consolation. Newcastle's willingness to run the ball from the off was rewarded when Jamie Noon threaded his way through a a gap on 15 minutes and the ball eventually found its way across for centre partner Tu'ipulotu to score. Desperate covering defence was necessary to preserve the lead when Flood hacked through, before May's solid striking from the tee extended it soon after.  | 606: DEBATE |
A long-range drop-goal and another costly Leicester indiscretion saw the stand-off build a comfortable lead going into the break. Flood finally registered for the visitors after the re-start, but acting head coach Richard Cockerill was frustrated as he watched his side fail to match their majority share of possession with a cutting edge. When centre Ayoola Erinle did manage to turn the Falcons backline with a powerful burst his pass found the advertising hoardings rather than the hands of his supporting team-mates. Leicester's try finally arrived through a mistake from the otherwise-impressive May as Youngs charged down his attempted clearance and dived on the loose ball. The result sees Newcastle leapfrog Wasps and Northampton into seventh position while Leicester's grip on a play-off position suddenly looks less certain with five points separating them from fifth position.
Newcastle director of rugby Steve Bates:
"The first-half in particular was our best performance of the season. "I had said to the guys beforehand that we were going to have to be at our best. "We scored a cracking try and we played some really good stuff. We created two or three chances in the second half that we didn't convert that maybe could have made the winning margin larger. "We did a lot of things that we didn't do in defeat to Bath last week." Leicester acting head coach Richard Cockerill:
"I think we got more out of the game than we deserved in the end. "Our intensity did not match theirs most of the time and we were sloppy and turned the ball over. We were just a little bit disjointed tonight. "It was the really basic things that let us down. We are very disappointed we played nowhere near as well as we can. "But credit to Newcastle they deserved to win the game and there is no question about that."
Newcastle: A Tait; Visser, Noon, Tu'ipulotu, Rudd; May, Charlton; Golding, Thompson, Hayman, Parling, Sorenson, Swinson, B Wilson, Dowson.
Replacements: Miller for Tait (78), Young for Charlton (45), D Wilson for Golding (29), Vickers for Thompson (49), Perry for Parling (71), Brown for Sorenson (78), Winter for Swinson (42). Leicester: G Murphy, Hamilton, Erinle, Mauger, Tuilagi; Flood, Ellis; Stankovich, Chuter, Castrogiovanni, L Deacon, Kay, Croft, Woods, Corry.
Replacements: J Murphy for Hamilton (58), Vesty for Mauger (73), Youngs for Ellis (61), Cole for Stankovich (58), Davies for Chuter (64), Hemingway for L Deacon (73), Pienaar for Corry (49). Att: 7,614 Ref: Chris White (RFU).
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