Inside Line: Newcastle Falcons find blueprint for punching above their weight

Matches have provided relief from the Premiership’s off-field issues of late and Friday encapsulated the diorama neatly.

Mere hours after a contemptuous statement from the co-owners of Worcester Warriors came a fascinating game at Kingston Park in which Newcastle Falcons, bottom after three rounds, overturned the league leaders.

Bristol Bears were poor and committed a slew of unforced errors, but Newcastle’s victory was so heartening because it crystallised the competitiveness of this competition. A first win of the season for Dave Walder’s men featured sprinklings of star quality, chiefly from Argentina wing Mateo Carreras, but it was a collective effort founded on cohesion and grit.

The first moment to highlight arrives in the 11th minute as Bristol make headway through Will Capon’s carry. Falcons’ defensive structure is, frankly, a mess. Carreras is isolated on this near side. Note his starting position, as well as those of Sean Robinson and Connor Collett. Those two forwards begin behind the ruck:

Bristol spread the ball to space and Piers O’Conor breaks before linking up with AJ MacGinty on his inside. Robinson’s tap-tackle attempt unbalances and slows the fly-half just long enough for Carreras to recover and chop down MacGinty. Collett gambles, diving into a developing breakdown:

This comes off, because Falcons have time to work back close to the run. They repel a series of pick and goes with Matías Moroni prominent. When Bristol do go wide, MacGinty fades around O’Conor to take a pass that goes behind Jack Bates. Watch Adam Radwan:

He pushes past Bates and dumps MacGinty backwards:

Bristol settle for three points, and did not score again until Falcons were reduced to 13 men in the second half.

From the ensuing restart…

…Robinson is rewarded for some incessant spoiling on the chase. He goes low on Magnus Bradbury, with Trevor Davison and Greg Peterson completing the tackle. Robinson then returns to his feet and shunts into a counter-ruck:

He jumps the gun at one stage, but is asked to retire by Luke Pearce…

…who awards Newcastle a scrum six seconds later because of Andy Uren’s delay at the base of the ruck:

Robinson should claim an assist, because Falcons capitalise on the field position.

Matías Orlando steps up at first-receiver from the ensuing scrum. Watch him and Moroni as well as Collett and Callum Chick:

At the end of August, these Argentina centres were pivotal in their country’s victory over New Zealand and excelled on Friday evening. They had landed in the United Kingdom on Monday night and trained on Tuesday before Thursday’s team run.

Walder had been in correspondence during the Rugby Championship, but this was an exceptional feat of adaptability. It was Moroni’s debut, too, and he looks to have been a canny acquisition from Leicester Tigers.

Here, Orlando bursts through the gain-line and Moroni’s clear-out smashes Uren way past the ball. Moroni was penalised for something similar in the second half but in this case, after Collett has secured the ball, his actions provide a lane for Chick to steam into:

Newcastle force a penalty, call for a scrum and score out wide thanks to Tian Schoeman’s long pass:

They would continue their happy habit of seizing short-range opportunities with further tries for Collett and the prolific George McGuigan. The first was earned from a counter-rucking turnover from Will Welch and Peterson, which led to Ed Holmes being yellow-carded for a shoulder-charge. Collett slipped through a maul untouched:

McGuigan’s try came about from Carreras chasing Sam Stuart’s box-kick. Bristol fumbled and then conceded a scrum penalty. Although a peel did not quite work, McGuigan eventually finished:

Two contributions are particularly important. The first is Davison’s dynamic carry from a slow ruck. The tighthead prop begins as part of a three-man pod with Collett and Adam Brocklebank, sizing up Holmes and Chris Vui…

…before buffeting both out the way and spinning over the gain-line:

Collett’s latch is essential as well. Look at his body position as he drives McGuigan over the chop-tackle of Capon:

With 12 minutes remaining and Bristol back to within touching distance at just 20-15 behind, we had another glimpse of Radwan’s defensive nous, foreshadowing his England call-up as a replacement for Guy Porter. He begins on the edge of the line as Bristol play away from a ruck close to the far touchline:

Watch how Moroni and Radwan drift. Turning his shoulders to offer Bristol his outside, the latter holds up a thumb. This is presumably to acknowledge communication coming behind him from Newcastle full-back, Tom Penny:

That connection works brilliantly. Radwan makes a textbook side-on tackle to fell Henry Purdy and Penny swings up as part of a back-field pendulum just in time to jackal:

Watch Radwan, McGuigan and Peterson celebrating the turnover. Such moments generate energy and enthusiasm:

Chasing place-kicks is so often a cast-iron sign of diligence and togetherness. In the 76th minute, Schoeman aimed a long-range effort at goal in a bid to put Falcons eight points clear. Welch, McGuigan, Moroni and Robinson were all in pursuit.

The ball comes off the post and drops towards Bristol’s five-metre line where Vui fields it. Moroni chops him down and McGuigan jackals with Welch and then Robinson binding onto their hooker. Moroni, meanwhile, circles all the way around the melee to fill the defensive line:

Newcastle do not win the turnover at this ruck, but are well resourced and able to pressurise the next one. Note how far away from the ruck that wide Moroni has reached:

With Orlando pressing up to cut off wider options, Moroni and Stuart combine in a dominant tackle on Sheedy. With Robinson and Welch joining the ruck again, Falcons win the turnover:

Schoeman splits the posts this time, and a bonus point is added by Carreras in spectacular style:

Newcastle’s remarkable run to fourth in 2017-2018 was founded upon a well-organised, fierce pack and evasion out wide. They would appear to have similar tools this season.

Even if a play-off push might be beyond them, the Premiership is clearly a more unpredictable, richer competition when all 13 teams are capable of winning every weekend. One round after being thrashed by Worcester, Newcastle, who operate on a tight budget, responded against big-spending opponents.

On Sunday, they host Saracens. Having taken Harlequins close and caused Leicester some issues, they will be confident of punching above their weight and ruffling a few feathers.

Match images courtesy of BT Sport