mens
Gallagher-Prime Minister
Dan McFarland hailed the brilliance of record winger Christian Wade and the resilience of his entire squad as Newcastle open your Gallagher Prem account.
Wade landed his sixth touchdown of the season and recorded his 101st attempt to inspire the Order Bulls to a 17-3 success Sale in Kingston Park.
The well-travelled speed merchant equaled the long-standing record of the famous former Northampton, Saracens, Sale, Leicester and England try the machine Chris Ashton, who was at the stadium.
Wade sprinted down the right flank to score in the 49th minute before skipper George McGuigan added a crucial second when he slotted home from close range.
“Christian is an energetic player,” said head coach McFarland.
“He knows how to find the try line like all good wingers.
“He’ll get there (on the record). He’s a great guy and he deserves it.”
Newcastle certainly deserved the four points after a full-blooded performance from their new-look side.
Trailing by three points at the interval, despite a gale-force tailwind in the first half, the Red Bulls made the most of their chances after the break, with full-back Josh Hodge adding seven vital points in the difficult conditions.
Newcastle have undergone a massive transformation with 25 new signings over the summer and 26 during the week following the arrival of Canadian striker Mason Flesh.
That left McFarland pleased to get going so early in the campaign after the away defeat Northampton and Exeter and a narrow domestic reverse to Leicester.
“We’re very pleased to win tonight, but disappointed we didn’t win before this,” McFarland said. “The key thing is we keep trying to play the rugby we want to play.
“We got two really good tries and our defense was great, really resilient.”
Sale missed the chance to be second in the table, for at least 24 hours.
Despite a number of promising positions, all they had to show for visiting Tyneside was George Ford’s 20th-minute penalty.
Points were no problem for the Manchester club, who averaged 29 per game in all competitions on Friday night away to Newcastle.
Mercifully, the stormy conditions were not conducive to playing good rugby, but director of rugby Alex Sanderson was bitterly disappointed with his side’s performance.
“What we did with the ball was the most frustrating, irritating and confusing aspect of tonight’s performance,” he said.
“We couldn’t win or hold and we couldn’t convert anything when we got into the right areas at the end of the first half and during the second.
“You have to come with points. I wouldn’t even say the mistakes we made were forced, they were unforced.
“We’re very disappointed and that’s not taking credit away from Newcastle. They were very good with their tactics and outplayed us and were more physical at times.”