It may be the start of a brand new season but for Newcastle this was a particularly frustrating case of deja vu. To describe the Falcons’ historic success rate against Saracens as modest is a sizeable understatement and, predictably, the visitors left the north east with a 20th consecutive victory over their hosts in all competitions.
By no stretch of the imagination, though, could this be dismissed as a routine contest, containing as it did a notable array of “You are the Ref” moments, which fundamentally shaped the outcome. Despite being reduced to 13 men at one stage, Sarries took advantage of two of these pivotal decisions to secure an unlikely bonus-point victory, which featured a couple of tries for Alex Lewington on his league debut for his new club.
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The Falcons’ director of rugby, Dean Richards, has been around the game long enough to know luck evens itself out over the course of a long season. Even so, he felt the game could have panned out differently had the referee, Ian Tempest, not twice favoured the visiting side: once when he adjudged Richard Wigglesworth had not knocked the ball on prior to Nick Tompkins’ match-clinching late try; and again when he denied Niki Goneva a try because, he said, the Fijian winger had acted contrary to the spirit of the game.
This is not an everyday occurrence; indeed no one present could recall a comparable precedent. Goneva had caught an attempted Owen Farrell drop-goal in his own in-goal area and, with his back turned, appeared to the naked eye to have touched it down for a 22 restart. All of a sudden, however, he turned and sprinted around a nonplussed, static Sarries defence to claim a score at the other end. Video replays confirmed he had merely touched the ball down on his toe, rather than the ground, but Tempest dismissed Newcastle’s appeals, pointing out he had already blown his whistle to signal a 22.
Full marks are always due to anyone daring to be different but, with the ball having been ruled dead by the officials, Goneva’s cunning plan always had a fatal inbuilt flaw. Richards, however, made the valid observation that throwing a dummy is perfectly legal and suggested the referee should have penalised the big Fijian if he thought an offence against the game’s values had been committed. “I am amazed he didn’t go to the TMO and come back and have a look at it, which is probably the right thing to do. That’s what the TMO’s for.”
Saracens’s Mark McCall, however, made the obvious point that the second the referee blew his whistle the game was technically at a halt. “Assuming the referee calls a 22m dropout – and he did – I think our players are entitled to stop,” said McCall. From the north Londoners’ perspective, the loss of both wingers to injury and the champions’ ability to survive final-quarter yellow cards for both Tompkins and Alex Goode deserved some tangible reward.
With six minutes left and Saracens still down to 13 men, however, nothing was remotely certain when the Falcons’ international back-rower Mark Wilson was driven over by his pack for his second try of the day and Toby Flood slotted the conversion to put the home side within a point at 22-21. The Falcons had played fitfully up to this point but, suddenly, the force was with them.
Cue Wigglesworth not being penalised for a fumble at the base of a scrum, causing some Newcastle players to lose concentration momentarily and allow Jamie George to burst clear in midfield. Tompkins, only just back on the field, applied the finishing touch, to the disgruntlement of Newcastle fans who felt he should have seen red not yellow for a forearm to the head of Flood. If Owen Farrell’s conversion and subsequent penalty made it look an easy ride the reality was slightly different.
If truth be told, though, Saracens do not edge these type of games by accident. George had earlier shown exceptional handling skills to gather and touch down in the right-hand corner, a slimmed-down Will Skelton was a constant menace and Farrell looked in excellent nick for this early in the season. Lewington, the last remaining fit specialist winger after Sean Maitland dislocated a finger and David Strettle failed a HIA, displayed the sure finishing knack for which Sarries signed him and Billy Vunipola is set to be available for this weekend’s home game against Bristol. Last season’s champions will take some knocking off their perch.