by It was another desperate evening for Newcastle who have now lost eight games in the Premier League this season and are already sitting at the bottom of the table. Leicester scored seven tries – three of them for winger Tommy Reffell – and continue their upward trend that began when their international returned but for the Falcons, it will be a bleak winter.
Newcastle may not want hard work, or talented youngsters, but there is a desperate lack of senior quality in their ranks and they haven’t won in the league since March. Indeed, they have won just twice in 2023 and head coach Alex Codling has asked the club’s hierarchy to “make decisions” about their long-term strategy. The Falcons have cut their cloth accordingly in a competition beset by financial troubles but their decision to spend far less than the salary cap permits was horribly exposed here against a side packed full of internationals.
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“Newcastle have decisions to make in the future regarding the strategy because they have some talented young people but in the short term it makes life difficult,” said Codling. “Those are the bare facts of it. I can’t dress it up any other way but I can’t criticize the players.
“I only work week to week at the moment, I work 100 hours a week. This is a huge challenge, my job now is to try to raise the spirit again. As painful as it is in the short term, there are really talented young people for the club in the long term. Our challenge is that we don’t have the experience around them to let them in. You dust and go again. It’s like a boxer, there’s only so many punches you can take but you keep taking them and hopefully you’ll land a punch.
“I’m paid as a coach, I respect the club a lot, they’ve had to make tough decisions financially but at the end of the day it’s very difficult when you’re fielding full-stack teams every week. I am proud of the players, every week they give me everything they have. I will never criticize the players for their spirit and each other.”
The spirit that Codling refers to was nowhere more evident than in the opening 10 minutes here, initially pushing the Leicester goal inside their own 22 for the most part and they scored first when Brett Connon decided to kick on goal. after Newcastle. a third successive penalty was quickly awarded. To sum up the current state of the Falcons, however, they were twice killed 10 meters back soon after the restart, Handré Pollard kicked to the corner and from the lineout later, Reffell was over for his first try.
From there, with Reffell and his team-mates taking the lead at the break, it was all too easy for Leicester, who showed the kind of leadership that had stymied them early in the season and went in at the break with a bonus point. already. . Matt Scott was next, picking up a level pass from Ben Youngs before heading over and Reffell had his second soon after in the left corner. Jasper Wiese headed in from close range to give Leicester a 26-3 lead.
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Thirteen minutes into the second half and Reffell had his hat-trick, finishing with another driving header into the right corner – Leicester playing to their strengths again and exposing Newcastle’s shortcomings all too easily. The Falcons’ evening got worse when blindside Pedro Rubiolo was shown a yellow card for a high tackle on Wiese and with Newcastle down to 14, Ollie Hassell-Collins was rewarded for his patience on the left wing with a simple finish .
Mike Brown capped off a brilliant evening with a seventh try that ensured Leicester qualified for Europe after three straight wins after managing just one in their opening five games. They will also be boosted by the return of Anthony Watson who missed the World Cup with a calf injury. He was on a short-term Rugby Union contract in the summer but has re-signed with the Tigers and head coach Dan McKellar is expected to welcome him back into the side in the European double header.
“Anthony should be available for selection next week,” McKellar said. “Excellent player, international, British and Irish lion – excellent for the Tigers last season. He’s able to come back and perform – which is exciting.”
