Newcastle shocks Sale, Gloucester topples Van Graan's Bath

WRAP: Christian Wade enjoyed another landmark moment in an extraordinary multi-sport career when he equalled Chris Ashton’s all-time English Prem record of 101 tries as Newcastle beat Sale 17-9 on Friday for their first league win of the season.

Wade drew level with Ashton nine minutes into the second half at a blustery Kingston Park when, after good approach play by Newcastle, he sprinted in at the right corner for his sixth try of the campaign.

Wade’s career haul is a testament to his enduring speed, elusive running and sheer endurance – it is more than 15 years since he scored his first try in English rugby union’s top flight for Wasps.

“He is a high-energy player and high-energy guy,” said Newcastle coach Dan McFarland after Friday’s match. “He knows how to find the try-line, which is what all good wingers do.

“I watched him right at the end of the game when we were in their 22, and he’s buzzing because he was thinking that might be the opportunity to get one ahead [of Ashton].

“He will get there, goodness willing. He is a tremendous guy, and he deserves it.”

But while the now-retired Ashton won 44 England caps, Wade, the only other man to have scored a century of Prem tries, has just one.

It is a meagre return for one of the outstanding finishers of his generation, even allowing for the fact that wing has been a highly competitive England position during the 35-year-old Wade’s career.

Rugby prides itself on being a sport for all shapes and sizes but Wade, who is 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 metres) tall, has played at a time when the English game has often preferred tall wings, even though the diminutive Cheslin Kolbe and Louis Bielle-Biarrey have thrived for South Africa and France.

 ‘Dominate aerial battle’

“For a guy who’s not one of the new age of 6ft 3in (1.90 metre) wingers, he (Wade) can dominate the aerial battle, so he’s done a really good job for us there,” said McFarland.

Misperceptions about Wade’s supposed weakness in defence also hampered his international career, which yielded a lone England cap against Argentina in 2013.

Wade scored the bulk of his tries during his seven-year spell at Wasps before leaving rugby union for American football in 2018.

He joined the Buffalo Bills in 2019 and scored a touchdown on his very first play in a pre-season game. But he did not break into the team’s NFL roster and was released in April 2022.

Wade returned to rugby union with Paris-based Racing 92. He signed for southwest side Gloucester in 2024 before a brief stint in rugby league with Wigan.

He made a second return to union when he joined Newcastle in 2025.

While conscious of the significance of the record, Wade, in the final year of his Newcastle contract, is more concerned about success for his struggling side.

“Sometimes I feel the record is more important to other people than it is to me,” he said ahead of Friday’s match.

“I’m going to score tries. That’s what I do and what I love doing. But it’s a result of the team performing well, having cohesion, understanding how we want to play and executing it.”

Gutsy Gloucester repel Bath to stay top of Prem

Gloucester boss George Skivington praised his side’s resilience after an impressive defensive display helped them overcome southwest rivals Bath 23-5 at Kingsholm on Friday to remain top of the English Prem table.

The final scoreline belied the fact that Bath were held up over the try line on at least three occasions, with Gloucester conceding 22 penalties while Ollie Thorley, Ciaran Knight and Will Joseph were all shown yellow cards.

But Freddie Thomas and Max Llewellyn delighted the home crowd with tries for Gloucester, both converted by George Barton, who also landed three penalties.

All Bath had to show for their efforts was a try from Kepu Tuipulotu.

“Everything that could go against us tonight did as we were pinged off the park and went down to 13 men, so we were just hanging in there,” said Skivington.

“Bath had opportunity after opportunity to score, but despite having everything thrown at us, they never let it faze them, and we never looked like throwing the towel in.

“Bath at home is the number one fixture for our fans, and we want to make Kingsholm a fortress and make sure everyone who bought a ticket wants to buy another one.”

Bath’s third defeat in a row in all competitions was made worse by injuries to internationals Santi Carreras and Guy Pepper.

“Both Santi and Guy will have scans so it’s too early to assess, but in Santi’s case I’d be amazed if it wasn’t bad news,” said Bath Director of Rugby Johann van Graan.

“I’m frustrated as we created so many opportunities but didn’t finish them, and if you don’t finish them you can’t build pressure.”

*See the scores and scorers below!

Newcastle Red Bulls 17-3 Sale Sharks

Scorers:

For Newcastle Red Bulls:
Tries: Wade, McGuigan
Cons: Hodge 2
Pen: Hodge

For Sale Sharks:
Pen: Ford

Teams:

Newcastle Red Bulls: 15 Josh Hodge, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Will Rigg, 11 Werner Kok, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Simón Benítez Cruz, 8 Hoskins Sotutu, 7 Tom Christie (captain), 6 Max Hicks, 5 Cam Jordan, 4 Oscar Usher, 3 Elliot Millar Mills, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Pouri Rakete-Stones
Replacements: 16 Zuriel Togiatama, 17 Tom West, 18 Francisco Moreno, 19 Rusi Tuima, 20 Ollie Leatherbarrow, 21 Sam Graham, 22 James Elliott, 23 Zack Henry

Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 George Ford, 9 Dom Hanson, 8 Tom Curry, 7 Ben Curry, 6 Christ Tshiunza, 5 Ben Bamber, 4 Ernst van Rhyn (captain), 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Nathan Jibulu, 17 Si McIntyre, 18 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 19 Elia Canakaivata, 20 Sam Dugdale, 21 Alex Lozowski, 22 Marius Louw, 23 Arron Reed

Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Henry Pearson, Veryan Boscawen
TMO: Andrew Jackson

Gloucester 23-5 Bath

Scorers:

For Gloucester:
Tries: Thomas, Llewellyn
Cons: Barton 2
Pens: Barton 3

For Bath:
Try: Tuipulotu

Yellow cards: Ollie Thorley (Gloucester, 21′), Will Knight (Gloucester, 28′), Will Joseph (Gloucester, 46′)

Teams:

Gloucester: 15 George Barton, 14 Ollie Thorley, 13 Will Joseph, 12 Max Llewellyn, 11 Will Knight, 10 Charlie Atkinson, 9 Caolan Englefield, 8 Jack Clement, 7 Jac Morgan (captain), 6 Freddie Thomas, 5 Arthur Clark, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Ciaran Knight, 2 Seb Blake, 1 Val Rapava-Ruskin
Replacements: 16 Jack Innard, 17 Dian Bleuler, 18 Afo Fasogbon, 19 Will Trenholm, 20 Lewis Ludlow, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Max Knight, 23 Ben Redshaw

Bath: 15 Santi Carreras, 14 Louie Hennessey, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Cameron Redpath, 11 Tyler Offiah, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben Spencer (captain), 8 Miles Reid, 7 Guy Pepper, 6 Josh Bayliss, 5 Charlie Ewels, 4 Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi, 3 Archie Griffin, 2 Kepu Tuipulotu, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Dan Frost, 17 Scott Kirk, 18 Kieran Verden, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Ted Hill, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Ciaran Donoghue, 23 Arthur Green

Referee: Christophe Ridley
Assistant referees: George Selwood, Jamie Parr
TMO: Peter Allan