Saracens win to spoil Newcastle Red Bulls opener

Saracens suffered a disappointing sixth-place finish in the league last season

The Prem

Newcastle Red Bulls (10) 17

Tries: Hearle, F Clarke Cons: Connon 2 Pen: Connon

Saracens (15) 39

Tries: Jackson, Onyeama-Christie, Tompkins 2, Caluori Cons: Farrell 3, Burke Pens: Farrell 2

Newcastle Red Bulls began life with defeat in their Prem opener as Saracens produced a strong display to claim a bonus-point victory.

The north-east club, now part of the Red Bull sporting umbrella, have finished last in each of the past three seasons, but began brightly through Alex Hearle's try.

Saracens lost flanker Nathan Michelow to the Prem's first ever 20-minute red card inside the opening couple of minutes, but recovered to lead at half-time following scores from Brandon Jackson and Andy Onyeama-Christie.

Further tries after the break, with two from Nick Tompkins and one on debut from 18-year-old Noah Caluori secured the extra point, while there were 12 points from the boot of the returning Owen Farrell.

Freddie Clarke's try for Newcastle was little more than a consolation, but well received by a sell-out crowd of 10,210 at Kingston Park.

Red Bull's takeover of Newcastle has been the story of the summer in English domestic rugby union.

From being whipping boys of the league for the past three seasons with an uncertain future to becoming the first Prem club under the control of a global brand is a huge moment for them and the league.

Falcons have become Red Bulls and a host of new players have arrived in a short space of time but only four started here with high-profile names like Christian Wade and Liam Williams expected to feature further down the line.

But what the new owners have done is create a real buzz around the club. Over 9,000 attended the Prem Rugby Cup game against Harlequins a fortnight ago, while this game was the first sell-out at Kingston Park for seven years.

The arrival of the Newcastle players and the Red Bulls era was greeted with a firework display and smoke was still in the air as the game kicked off.

And the home side could not have wished for a better start as sharp handling in midfield was met by an electric burst from winger Hearle, which took him beyond the Sarries defenders and over the line from about 25 metres out.

To add to the drama, a TMO call in the build-up found Michelow guilty of a tip-tackle on Red Bulls captain George McGuigan which ended his night with a red card and gave Saracens 20 minutes with a man less.

Under the new rule the player who is sent off can be replaced after the 20 minutes is up.

By the time the numbers were level when Harry Wilson came on for Michelow, Sarries had gone ahead thanks to a Farrell penalty and a try from Jackson, set up by nice hands from Tompkins.

A Brett Connon penalty put the hosts back in front but Onyeama-Christie dived over after Theo Dan's forward grunt had done the damage to give them a five-point cushion at the break.

Saracens had suffered a shock loss in this fixture last November, one of only two Newcastle victories in their last 39 league games, and they displayed an edge and physicality throughout that showed they were determined not to suffer the same fate.

Farrell added three points to extend the gap to eight, but they were given a huge helping hand when Newcastle went for a long line-out close to their own line and got it all wrong, allowing Tompkins to steal over.

And shortly after, Caluori announced himself on his Prem debut. The replacement winger showed lightning pace and a good touch with his foot, allied to a couple of favourable bounces, to celebrate his first try at this level and seal the victory.

Clarke grabbed Newcastle's second try, but Tompkins' second of the evening rounded off proceedings as the north London outfit showed they mean business for the season ahead.

'What's happened around the place is brilliant'

Newcastle Red Bulls director of rugby Steve Diamond:

"The first half we were highly competitive with a low penalty count. The second half, we created a lot of our downfall, people not knowing their roles.

"What's happened around the place is brilliant and you can see that tonight, but we've got to get the basics right.

"We need to be more cohesive and more physical. Second half, Sarries were taking us off the ball legally. We had the ball 42 times and lost it 30, so we're not going to compete with those stats.

"We've got a lot to work on, but we know the job in hand."

Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall:

"The first game of the season may be a bit scrappy, but we were looking to see the identity of the team and you get the 20-minute red card and you get to see that pretty quickly.

"During that period, we showed the fight and the smarts that you want, which was really good.

"Overall, I'm pleased with our attitude, pleased with our physicality as this is a tough place to come and we stood up to the challenge today, so it was a really good performance.

"It wasn't perfect but the thing that was most pleasing was how we cracked on with the next thing and backed each other up."

Newcastle: Chamberlain; Spencer, Arnold, Clark, Hearle; Connon, Elliott; McCallum, McGuigan, de Bruin, Usher, Hodgson, Neild, Gordon, Mafi.

Replacements: Fletcher, Brocklebank, Palframan, F Clarke, Lee-Warner, Lockwood, Dickens, Obatoyinbo.

Saracens: Malins; Jackson, Tompkins, Farrell, Segun; Burke, van Zyl; Carre, Dan, Riccioni, Isiekwe, Tizard, Michelow, Onyeama-Christie, Willis.

Replacements: E Clarke, Mawi, Clarey, Wilson, Sodeke, Bracken, Hutchison, Caluori.

Red card: Michelow (2)

Referee: Adam Leal