Wasps 35 Newcastle 15: Oakes undoes Falcons' good work
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Your support makes all the difference.Newcastle have themselves to blame for the size of this defeat. The Falcons led by two tries in the first quarter but squandered their advantage to give Wasps a victory, with a try-scoring bonus point, that takes them second in the Guinness Premiership.
The visitors were 12-3 up after 20 minutes. Jeremy Staunton had given Wasps an early lead with a penalty which, on the back of a powerful scrummage, was no more than they deserved. With the next two moves of the game, however, Newcastle turned things around.
First, the No 8 Phil Dowson passed to Mathew Tait, the England centre making his first start of the season. With remarkable acceleration, Tait went straight through the home full-back Mark van Gisbergen for a terrific try. The next was almost as good. Tait's centre partner, Jamie Noon, and the fly-half Toby Flood initiated it and Noon scored, though Flood's conversion attempt was wide.
Newcastle had collected only two yellow cards in four previous Premiership games, but it took one act of indiscipline here to end their recovery. The lock Jason Oakes earned the referee Tony Spreadbury's displeasure with a scrap with Simon Shaw and a stamp on Lawrence Dallaglio's ankle and went to the sin bin. Wasps never looked back, Staunton kicking another penalty before Dan Leo scored their first try. Tom Voyce got the second and Tom Rees the third. Staunton converted twice and Wasps were 25-12 up.
Newcastle scored the first points of the second half with a Flood penalty, but they finally subsided in the 72nd minute, when Paul Sackey scored the bonus-point try. Josh Lewsey added a fifth touchdown late on, though Alex King missed both conversions.
Ian McGeechan, Wasps' director of rugby, said: "A bonus point is hard to come by, and when one comes along it is always good."
Of his role in the key moment of the match, Dallaglio growled that "Jason Oakes stamped on my good ankle, so he deserved all he got".
Wasps: Tries Leo, Voyce, Rees, Sackey, Lewsey; Conversions Staunton 2; Penalties Staunton 2. Newcastle: Tries Tait, Noon; Conversion Flood; Penalty Flood.
Wasps: M van Gisbergen; P Sackey, J Lewsey, F Waters, T Voyce; J Staunton (A King, 69), E Reddan (S Amor, 73); T Payne, R Ibañez (J Barrett, 73), P Vickery (P Bracken, 53), S Shaw (J Brooks, 76), T Palmer (G Skivington, 73), D Leo, T Rees, L Dallaglio (capt; J Barrett, 73).
Newcastle: M Burke (capt); T May, J Noon (J Shaw, 34), M Tait, A Elliott (T Visser, 43); T Flood, J Grindal (L Dickson, 66); R Morris (Ward, 66), M Thompson (A Long, 40), M Ward (D Wilson, 40), A Perry, J Oakes, E Gesinde (G Parling, 34), B Woods, P Dowson (B Wilson, 55).
Referee: T Spreadbury (Somerset).
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