Exeter's comeback stun Sale, Newcastle's misery continues
FRIDAY WRAP: Geoff Parling made a winning return to Kingston Park on Friday as his Leicester side extended Newcastle’s losing start to the English Prem season with a 39-17 victory.
The Leicester coach, who started his decorated career in the northeast, saw the Tigers run in five tries, including two for Joaquin Moro, as they moved up to third in the table on a night when the domestic campaign resumed after a month-long break for the autumn internationals.
It was a sixth defeat on the spin for the Red Bulls, with former England lock Parling, previously a member of Australia coach Joe Schmidt’s backroom staff, overseeing a decisive success.
Billy Searle opened the scoring with an early penalty before lock James Thompson went over from a close-range drive.
Leicester were briefly reduced to 14 players when wing Ollie Hassell-Collins was yellow-carded, and Newcastle made their advantage count with an Ethan Grayson try.
But minutes later, Leicester No.8 Moro went through a huge gap in the home defence for another try converted by Searle.
The Red Bulls kicked a penalty to reduce Leicester’s half-time lead to 17-10, but England fullback Freddie Steward’s second league try this season saw the Tigers pull clear again.
The Tigers made sure of a four-try bonus point seven minutes from time when Moro’s sharp line finished a move started when replacement flyhalf James O’Connor ran back a kick.
In Friday’s other league match, Exeter staged a spectacular comeback from 6-26 down to win 27-26 away to Sale as they went top of the Prem.
When England flyhalf George Ford converted Sale’s second try from Alex Wills after 46 minutes, the northwest side seemed to have an unassailable lead.
But two quick tries from Jack Yeandle and Olly Woodburn took Exeter to within a converted score before Australia prop Scott Sio was ruled to have got over the line 10 minutes from time, with England centre Henry Slade kicking what turned out to be the clinching conversion.
Exeter’s first away league win since April 2024 took them above Northampton on points difference ahead of the rest of the weekend’s Prem games.
Newcastle Red Bulls 17-39 Leicester Tigers
Scorers
For Newcastle Red Bulls:
Tries: Grayson, Palframan
Cons: Connon 2
Pen: Connon
For Leicester Tigers:
Tries: Thompson, Moro 2, Steward, Reffell
Cons: Searle 3, Bailey
Pen: Searle
Yellow card: Ollie Hassell-Collins (Leicester Tigers, 16′)
Teams
Newcastle Red Bulls: 15 Ethan Grayson, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Alex Hearle, 12 Max Clark, 11 Oli Spencer, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Sam Stuart, 8 Amanaki Mafi, 7 Tom Christie, 6 Freddie Lockwood, 5 Jamie Hodgson, 4 Oscar Usher, 3 Murray McCallum, 2 George McGuigan (captain), 1 Adam Brocklebank
Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Micky Rewcastle, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 Sebastian de Chaves, 20 Cameron Neild, 21 Simón Benítez Cruz, 22 Boeta Chamberlain, 23 Tom Gordon.
Leicester Tigers: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Will Wand, 12 Orlando Bailey, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Billy Searle, 9 Tom Whiteley, 8 Joaquin Moro, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Hanro Liebenberg (captain), 5 James Thompson, 4 Cameron Henderson, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 Archie van der Flier, 18 Ale Loman, 19 Harry Wells, 20 Joshua Manz, 21 Ollie Allan, 22 James O’Connor, 23 Joseph Woodward
Referee: Sara Cox
Assistant referees: Hamish Smales & John Meredith
TMO: Dean Richards
Sale Sharks 26-27 Exeter Chiefs
Scorers
For Sale Sharks:
Tries: James, Willis,
Cons: Ford 2
Pens: 4
For Exeter Chiefs:
Tries: Yeandl, Woodburn, Sio
Cons: Slade 3
Pens: Slade 2
Yellow cards: Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 4′), Tom Hooper (Exeter Chiefs, 10′)
Teams
Sale Sharks: 15 Luke James, 14 Tom O’Flaherty, 13 Rob du Preez, 12 Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, 11 Alex Wills, 10 George Ford, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Dan du Preez, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Jacques Vermeulen, 5 Ben Bamber, 4 Ernst van Rhyn (captain), 3 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Si McIntyre
Replacements: 16 Nathan Jibulu, 17 Tumy Onasanya, 18 James Harper, 19 Tom Burrow, 20 Hyron Andrews, 21 Raffi Quirke, 22 Marius Louw, 23 Regan Grace
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Will Haydon-Wood, 14 Dan John, 13 Harry Ascherl, 12 Will Rigg, 11 Ben Hammersley, 10 Ben Coen (captain), 9 Charlie Chapman, 8 Kane James, 7 Martin Moloney, 6 Richard Capstick, 5 Lewis Pearson, 4 Rusi Tuima, 3 Jimmy Roots, 2 Julian Heaven, 1 Ethan Burger
Replacements: 16 Louie Gulley, 17 Khwezi Mona, 18 Bachuki Tchumbadze, 19 Joe Bailey, 20 Finn Worley-Brady, 21 Tom Cairns, 22 Ollie Batson, 23 Paul Brown-Bampoe
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe
Assistant referees: Harry Walbaum & Jamie Leahy
TMO: Peter Allan
