Newcastle Falcons vs Saracens - Programme

NEWCASTLE FALCONS V SARACENS - SUNDAY OCT 9TH, 2022

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FALCONS VS SARACENS LINE-UPS 

TOM PENNY 15 

ADAM RADWAN 14 

MATIAS MORONI 13 

MATIAS ORLANDO 12 

MATEO CARRERAS 11 

TIAN SCHOEMAN 10 

SAM STUART 9 

ADAM BROCKLEBANK 1 

GEORGE MCGUIGAN 2 

TREVOR DAVISON 3 

GREG PETERSON 4 

SEAN ROBINSON 5 

WILL WELCH (CAPTAIN) 6 

CONNOR COLLETT 7 

CALLUM CHICK 8 

REPLACEMENTS 

JAMIE BLAMIRE 16 

LOGOVI’I MULIPOLA 17 

RICHARD PALFRAMAN 18 

SEBASTIAN DE CHAVES 19 

FREDDIE LOCKWOOD 20 

MICHAEL YOUNG 21 

PETE LUCOCK 22 

BEN STEVENSON 23 

REFEREE: 

ASSISTANT REFEREES: 

TELEVISION MATCH OFFICIAL: 

CITING OFFICER: 

15 ELLIOT DALY 

14 MAX MALINS 

13 ALEX LOZOWSKI 

12 NICK TOMPKINS 

11 ALEX LEWINGTON 

10 OWEN FARRELL (CAPTAIN) 

9 IVAN VAN ZYL 

1 MAKO VUNIPOLA 

2 KAPELI PIFELETI 

3 MARCO RICCIONI 

4 CALLUM HUNTER-HILL 

5 THEO MCFARLAND 

6 JACKSON WRAY 

7 BEN EARL 

8 BILLY VUNIPOLA 

WAYNE BARNES 

NICK WOOD, JAMIE LEAHY 

STUART TERHEEGE 

ANDY BLYTH 

REPLACEMENTS 

16 THEO DAN 

17 ERONI MAWI 

18 ALEC CLAREY 

19 HUGH TIZARD 

20 ANDY CHRISTIE 

21 RUBEN DE HAAS 

22 ALEX GOODE 

23 JOSH HALLETT

DAVE WALDER 

“The key now for us is to 

make sure performances 

like that aren’t a oneoff.”

Every week is a massive test in the Gallagher Premiership, and after the high 

of taking a bonus-point victory over Bristol Bears last weekend we have 

another major challenge this afternoon against Saracens. 

Thank you all for coming to the game, and welcome to today’s visitors. There 

are a couple of familiar faces among Sarries’ coaching staff with Joe Shaw 

and Ian Peel both continuing to do great things there, and as always it will 

be nice to chat with former team-mates before what we all know will be a 

big test. 

You can’t fail to have been impressed by what Saracens put out last weekend 

in beating Leicester Tigers, and rather than talking about the usual kickchase 

which everyone knows them for it’s apparent that they are making 

a great fist of playing a more attacking brand of rugby so far this season. 

I hope all of our supporters enjoyed our last home game against Bristol a 

week ago on Friday, and if you weren’t here in person then hopefully the 

TV pictures will have helped tempt you to come along and enjoy a Falcons 

game in the flesh. 

After the disappointment of our defeat down at Worcester it was great to 

see the lads come back and respond in the way that they did, and especially 

to add a bonus-point try right at the end. You might have had a good laugh at 

me embarrassing myself on the TV in celebrating that score but the beauty 

of sport is the emotion it gives you, even if I might cringe a bit watching it 

back afterwards! 

A lot was made in the coverage about the contribution of our three Argentina 

internationals with Matias Orlando and Matias Moroni playing just four 

days after landing in the country, and Mateo Carreras earning man of the 

match with his two tries. 

They’re all quality players and those plaudits are absolutely fair, although all 

three guys will be the first to tell you it’s a team performance. 

I thought our captain Will Welch was also a big presence having missed the 

previous game through illness, Sam Stuart showed up well at scrum-half in 

his first game back for a long while and Tom Penny made a number of key 

interventions from full-back to name just a few. 

We lost our starting fly-half Brett Connon on the day of the game but Tian 

Schoeman came in and performed, and the key now for us is to make sure 

that performances like that aren’t a one-off. We’ve set the benchmark of 

what we’re capable of, and it has to become the norm rather than the exception. 

With the November international window coming into view it was also nice 

to see a couple of our lads given some England recognition, with George 

McGuigan and Adam Radwan called into the training squad during the early 

part of this week. 

I’d been asked about George in the media last week prior to news of his 

call-up, and the point I made at the time was that he had been a great 

professional throughout the last couple of years in just keeping his head 

down and playing well even he wasn’t getting selected by England. Lesser 

players in that scenario might have sulked and dropped their standards, but 

George and Adam have gone about things the right way and are hopefully 

now starting to see the rewards of that. 

It’s one of those double-edged swords in knowing we might lose guys during 

the international window, but ultimately it’s a huge honour for us as a club 

to be producing players for England, and it’s great for the lads to know that 

their international ambitions can be fulfilled while they’re Newcastle Falcons 

players. 

Hopefully this afternoon we can give another positive account of ourselves 

on a big stage against a quality side, and with your support we can continue 

to make Kingston Park a tough place for opposition teams to come. 

Enjoy the game! 

DAVE WALDER 

Head coach 

5

CLUB NEWS 

FALCONS PAIR IN ENGLAND 

SQUAD 

Newcastle Falcons hooker George McGuigan and wing Adam 

Radwan spent three days with the England squad this week 

as preparations for the autumn tests continue. 

George McGuigan 

England open up against Argentina on Sunday November 6, 

followed by tests against Japan (Sat Nov 12), New Zealand (Sat 

Nov 19) and South Africa (Sat Nov 26). 

Radwan has been capped twice for England, scoring four tries, 

while McGuigan is as yet uncapped at full international level. 

SUPPORTERS’ CLUB TRAVEL 

TO GLOUCESTER 

Newcastle Falcons’ Supporters’ Club is running return coach travel 

to the Gallagher Premiership game at Gloucester on Saturday 

November 12. 

Return coach travel for the 3pm kick-off at Kingsholm is priced 

at £35 for adult members of the Supporters’ Club, and £40 for 

non-members. Juniors can travel for £17 members and £20 nonmembers. 

These prices do not include match tickets, which can be booked 

from the home club. 

The bus leaves Kingston Park Stadium at 7:30am, with pick-ups at 

Washington Services (7.50am) and Scotch Corner (8.20am) before 

returning from Kingsholm at 5.45pm. 

To book your travel for either game through the Supporters’ Club 

please email keithevans21@virginmedia.com or call Keith on 0781 

297 5220. 

Payment can be made by bank transfer (sort code: 20-59-61, 

account number 13503976), or, by agreement, paying Keith on the 

coach. 

Adam Radwan 

7

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9

CLUB CONNECTIONS 

The Falcons Community team was delighted to host a fantastic 

event to welcome our Club Connections Ambassadors to Kingston 

Park to celebrate the start of the 2022-23 season. 

OCTOBER COACHING 

CAMPS 

Our October coaching camps are designed to help improve 

participants’ rugby skills, techniques, game awareness and much 

more, whilst having fun with your friends. 

Aimed at boys and girls aged 6 to 14, all abilities are welcome. 

From just £25, each participant receives five hours of high-quality 

rugby coaching from DBS-cleared, RFU-qualified community 

development officers, a coaching camp t-shirt and £5 credit. 

The evening kicked-off with a presentation from the foundation’s 

operations and delivery manager Gavin Beasley, delivering Club 

Connections updates. This programme simply aims to help 

our community clubs grow stronger by supporting a variety of 

elements on and off the pitch. 

It was great to be joined by our Club Connections programme 

sponsor, Fusion for Business (FFB). Their team enlightened our 

ambassadors on how they can help create a recurring revenue 

stream, enabling investment back into the club and funding any 

improvements – creating a circular economy with long-lasting 

benefits. 

CAMP DATES 

October 24-25: Kingston Park. 

October 26: Ashington RFC. 

October 27: Hartlepool RFC. 

October 27-28: Penrith RFC. 

To book, please head to www.rugbycamps.co.uk/falcons. 

10

The evening concluded with a brilliant rugby quiz, with our 

ambassador teams joined by Newcastle Falcons first team players, 

followed by cheering on Newcastle Falcons against Sale Sharks. 

To discover more about Club Connections, email falconscommunity@ 

newcastle-falcons.co.uk. 

To find out more about FFB, please contact maisie.cole@ 

fusionforbusiness.co.uk. 

WELCOME TO OUR 

UNDER-9S AND 10S! 

We are delighted to welcome over 75 grassroot rugby clubs from 

Northumberland, Cumbria, North Yorkshire, and Durham to Kingston 

Park for our first of the season U9 & U10 match day festival! 

FLOURISHING LIKE THE 

ROSES 

In the build-up to the Women’s Rugby 

World Cup we would like to celebrate the 

sporting achievements of women in our 

own community! 

We would love to highlight the success of 

two of our Tyne Met students, Molly and 

Lucy (pictured) 

Both joined the Tyne Met programme in 

September 2021, and since joining they have 

excelled along the age-grade pathways. 

Both were invited to be involved with 

England Girls U18 North camp, which is a 

huge achievement and testament to how 

they’ve developed over the past season. 

their Women’s Super League debuts for Huddersfield Giants 

against Leeds Rhinos. 

It has been a pleasure to watch how they have progressed, and 

we can’t wait to see how they get on this season! 

Premiership Rugby Champions is an interactive resource for 

primary schools, delivered through the Premiership Rugby Digital 

App. 

The app makes digital lesson plans and resources available to 

school across the country. 

Within the programme there are three 

strands: Tackling Health, Tackling 

Numeracy and Tackling Character. 

It aims to take an all-inclusive 

approach to these three strands 

by applying real-world and 

sports-based scenarios to 

curriculum activities. 

For more information, please 

email falconscommunity@ 

newcastle-falcons.co.uk. 

Both players have had great personal 

success with rugby league, making 

11

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QUIZ TIME 

Test your knowledge on all things rugby with our ten-question teaser. Answers are 

upside down at the bottom of the page. 

Q1 Which two teams compete annually for 

the Bledisloe Cup? 

Q2 Which Newcastle Falcons player is 

pictured here? 

Q6 True or false, Newcastle Falcons wing 

Zach Kerr is the nephew of Saracens director 

of rugby Mark McCall? 

Q7 Saracens forward Theo McFarland plays 

international rugby for which country? 

Q8 Which French legend and former Saracen 

is pictured here? 

Q3 Which two members of Newcastle Falcons’ 

2004 Powergen-Cup-winning team are 

on Saracens’ coaching staff? 

Q4 Who are the reigning Premiership Rugby 

Cup holders? 

Q5 Which former Newcastle Falcons player 

co-hosts The Rugby Pod with ex-Saracen Jim 

Hamilton? 

Q9 Which North East native is captain of the 

England Women’s national team? 

Q10 ‘Atoms in Maori’ is an anagram of which 

Newcastle Falcons player’s name? 

13 

ANSWERS: 1 Australia and New Zealand, 2 Carl Fearns, 3 Joe Shaw and Ian Peel, 4 Worcester 

Warriors, 5 Andy Goode, 6 True, 7 Samoa, 8 Philippe Sella, 9 Sarah Hunter, 10 Matias Moroni.

SAM STUART 

14 

“I did three 

ACLs in my 

first three 

years out of 

school.”

A schoolboy prodigy who was earmarked for big things from the 

age of 13, Sam Stuart still had to do things the hard way to carve 

out a Premiership rugby career. 

A graduate of the famed Sedbergh School production line who 

turned pro straight out of school, he suffered three ACL injuries, 

worked as a labourer and stockbroker, dropped down to level 

three and then rose back to the top. 

It has been a rugby journey with more than a few hurdles along 

the way for the scrum-half, whose path to Kingston Park has 

taken in the South West, the North West, London, New Zealand 

and Tyneside. 

“I was born in Cheltenham where we lived there until I was about 

nine or ten, and I played my mini rugby at Stroud rugby club,” says 

Stuart. 

“I moved to Sedbergh from then until I was 18, and it’s funny when 

you think back. We went on holiday to Center Parcs in Cumbria, 

and I must’ve said something flippant about the fact it’s really 

nice up here, because pretty quickly after that we moved up to 

the area! Sedbergh just happened to be a good school fairly near 

to where my family were living rather than moving to the area 

specifically for the school, but I enjoyed my time there and got to 

play a lot of sport.” 

With the famed rugby breeding ground boasting alumni including 

England greats Will Carling and Will Greenwood, Stuart explains: 

“There’s a huge list of guys who have come through Sedbergh and 

gone on to big things in the game, but it’s not something they 

make a massive play on when you’re there. They obviously have 

their names on the boards and some photos in the pavilion, and 

you’re definitely aware of that tradition, but they don’t make a 

song and dance about it. 

“From the first XV that I played with at Sedbergh, I’d say 

somewhere in the region of ten of them signed professional 

contracts. Tom Francis was one who plays prop for Wales, Alex 

Allan played prop for Glasgow and Scotland, Charlie Clare plays 

hooker at Leicester Tigers, Scott Wilson played here and was in 

the team a year below mine and there’s been a steady stream of 

guys coming through since I left. 

“They’ve got a reputation of being good, which in turn attracts the 

best players, and because it’s such a traditional boarding school 

the guys are just there all the time. They train every day anyway, 

and even when school finishes for the day you’re just playing 

touch rugby. There’s not much else to do because it’s pretty 

isolated up there, but they’ve got a great record and do a lot of 

things well. 

15

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“You can always go back to an 

office job when your playing 

career is over.” 

“I played pretty much every sport while I was there, and didn’t 

spend much time in the classroom! I ran, played hockey, cricket, 

athletics – everything really. All of my England age-group rugby 

was while I was at Sedbergh, through 16s and 18s, and I got called 

into England Under-20s’ squad when I was in my last year.” 

It seemed for all money like a rapid rise to the top was on the 

cards, but there was to be a string in the tail. 

“I did three ACLs pretty much back to back in my first three years 

out of school,” says Stuart, who has the scars on his knees to 

back up the story. 

“I’d had a bit of a long-distance relationship with Harlequins while I 

was at school because they’d seen me playing at the Rosslyn Park 

7s when I was 13. It was nailed-on that I was going there after sixth 

form in 2010, but I did my ACL at the end of my first week of my 

first pre-season there. I came back, did it again, then when I came 

back that time I went out to New Zealand to play four months of 

club rugby. 

“I played for East Coast Bays just over the bridge from Auckland 

in the North Harbour province, which was great, and then came 

back to Quins and did the ACL in my other knee. When I came back 

that time I fractured my jaw, and then I left the club having hardly 

played for them. 

“There’s no bitterness towards Quins, and there’s not much 

they could have done. I was just spending most of my time with 

the physios rather than being involved in the rugby there but I 

had good team-mates, and I was living with some of the other 

academy boys like George Merrick, who is here with me now at 

Newcastle. 

“After leaving Harlequins I went travelling for a bit, then actually 

came up and played for Darlington Mowden Park for four months. 

It was more just helping them out because one of my old schoolmates 

was their captain, and from there I joined Richmond. 

“They were in National One at the time, but we got promoted in 

my first season there and then I had a season with them in the 

Championship. They’re not a professional club so I was working 

during the day – firstly on a few building sites and then in the city 

as a stockbroker. I didn’t enjoy that job at all, but playing rugby 

again at Richmond was great. 

“After my experience with injuries at Harlequins I wouldn’t exactly 

say I’d fallen out of love with the game, but I’d got to the point 

where I maybe thought my body just couldn’t do it. I then went 

to Richmond and played 32 games in my first season, 24 in my 

second and I thought I might as well try and give it another crack. 

You only have a relatively short period of time in your life when 

you’re physically capable of playing professional sport, and you 

can always go back to an office or a building site when your 

playing career is over.” 

17

“I love the ethos of 

the place and there’s 

massive potential here.” 

Cue the move to Kingston Park, where Stuart has become 

a regular in the match-day 23, fitness permitting. 

“This is my sixth season with the Falcons now after joining in 2017, 

and I enjoyed it from the start. I had good people to learn from, I 

got an opportunity to play quite quickly and I knew a few of the 

boys anyway. It wasn’t hard settling in, and everyone was really 

welcoming. 

18 

“I love the area, and the contrast for my wife and I living here 

compared to London is just massive. The lifestyle and what’s on 

your doorstep are just completely different, and with having a 

little boy now it’s great being in Newcastle. Everyone at the club is 

great in terms of getting along with, I love the ethos of the place 

and I just feel there’s massive potential here which we’re starting 

to tap into.” 

Settled off the pitch as well as on it, Stuart says: “Beth and I got 

married last year and we have a nine-month-old son called Roger, 

so life is good. 

“It just focuses your mind on being professional in terms of your 

recovery and all that, because you never know when it might all 

be taken away. The first six weeks were tough when I was still 

playing and Roger had just been born, and then I had an operation 

on my foot so I couldn’t really help much around the house and 

things. But we’ve got through that, we’re really happy and it’s 

great to have that family.” 

The aforementioned foot injury is the one from which he made a 

successful return in last Friday’s 30-15 triumph over Bristol Bears, 

playing the full 80 minutes without any reported problems. 

He explains: “In August last year I fractured a metatarsal so I was 

in a boot for a while, we thought it had healed and I came back and 

re-fractured it against Bristol around January time. I had to have 

some joints fused together in my foot, and it’s just one of those 

injuries which takes time to heal. You’ve got three months 

where it’s totally immobile, you’ve got two fewer joints in your foot 

and you basically have to get used to moving differently. It’s also 

right where you kick the ball, so as a scrum-half who does a lot of 

running and kicking it’s not ideal. 

“I’d done quite a few weeks’ training going into last Friday’s game 

and felt comfortable, and in some ways it was probably nice just to 

get chucked straight back in rather than getting 10 or 15 minutes 

off the bench. It allowed me to fully focus and make sure I knew 

everything, and to get through the full 80 in the end was great. 

“We had two tag lines in the week leading into it which were 

‘attitude and intensity’, and I think both were there in volumes. 

We had attitude in terms of things like our kick-chase, and the 

intensity of our tackle contest. The discipline across the board 

was much better, even though we had two yellow cards, and then 

the discipline to score pretty much every time we were in the red 

zone.” 

After one high comes another massive test against unbeaten 

Saracens, with Stuart saying: “There are no easy games in 

the Gallagher Premiership, and that’s why everyone loves it. 

Regardless of who you’ve just beaten or lost against, the next 

game is always going to be tough. Some teams bring with them

a bit of prestige if you beat them, and Saracens would definitely 

be one of those. 

“They’ve been very good for a long time now and they’re looking 

really good again this season. They hammered Leicester last 

weekend and are probably smarting from losing the Premiership 

final in June, but as we saw down at Worcester emotion can play 

a massive part on the day. 

“We beat Bristol but it’s only one game, and I’m sure Bristol will 

be the first to say they didn’t play very well on the night. Things 

clicked for us but it was only one win out of four games, and 

Sarries will be a different challenge. It’s just how we adapt to 

that and what consistency we can deliver that will determine the 

outcome, but we’ve at least shown now that we can do it. 

“Saracens kick the ball a lot and they’re very good at it, but they 

seem to be playing a bit more this season. They’re efficient in 

everything they do, and when they’re in the right areas they’ll play. 

“For us, we’re probably still finding our own strengths a little bit, 

and with the changes we’ve had on the coaching team I think 

that’s understandable. Dave Walder has gone from doing the 

attack to defence, Mark Laycock has gone from doing skills to 

running the attack, and it takes time for them to imprint what 

they want. 

“I’d say we’ve got an ambitious style of play, allied to that 

traditional North East grunt which people probably know us for. 

We’ve always had a good maul, our scrum is getting there and it’s 

not a bad balance. The thing like Dave said after the Bristol game 

is to make it the norm rather than the exception, so that’s the big 

challenge for us. 

we’re just trying to create a good culture where people stay at the 

club for a significant period of time rather than say getting the 

best player from Consett, Northern or Ponteland, who will come 

for a few weeks and then go back. 

“It’s obviously a different level but I think it’s improved me as a 

player, because you have a wider view about everything that’s 

going on. Because it’s a lesser standard of rugby the intricacies 

of everything we do at the Premiership level are highlighted. The 

sessions have to encompass a lot more because you’ve only got 

the players for a couple of hours each week if you’re lucky, and 

you appreciate how talented the guys have to be to do what we’re 

asking them to do at the Falcons. 

“It’s interesting trying to re-draw some of the stuff we do here 

and pass it on to the Blaydon guys in a simplified way, because 

there’s just not the time to go into the detail that a professional 

player would. You’ve also got guys who can’t always train because 

they’re firemen, factory workers or whatever, and you have to 

give a lot of thought to what you’re asking them to do. 

“We also have some of the Falcons boys on dual-registration, with 

Nathan Greenwood, Ewan Greenlaw, Micky Rewcastle, Ben Douglas 

and Charlie Smith. They’re looked after well because everything is 

captured on GPS in terms of how much work we’re putting into 

them, and they’ve all been great in buying into the Blaydon ethos. 

Sometimes you get players who think they might be above playing 

at that level, but those boys have really bought into it.” 

“There’s an obvious feelgood factor and a certain amount of 

plaudits that comes with beating the top-of-the-league team on 

national TV, but when we’re sat there on one win from four games 

we can’t be thinking it’s job done. This is just the start for us.” 

Away from Kingston Park, Stuart also has a burgeoning sideline 

as a coach at Blaydon RFC, explaining: “I’ve been involved with 

Blaydon for two and a half years, and this season I’ve taken over 

as more of a head coach or director of rugby type role. It’s a lot 

more than just a bit of coaching on a Tuesday or Thursday, but I’m 

enjoying the challenge. Results haven’t really gone our way this 

season and we’ve had to cope with a lot of injuries, but it’s a good 

club to be involved with. 

“We got promoted during the Covid season then the leagues 

got restructured, which is good because it means less travel for 

people. Ralph Appleby is our forwards coach, and obviously I’m 

not at a lot of the games because of my commitments with the 

Falcons. I have a lot of good help in terms of what I do there, and 

19

FRIDAY 

PREMIERSHIP PREVIEWS 

BRISTOL BEARS V EXETER CHIEFS 

YESTERDAY 

BATH V GLOUCESTER 

LEICESTER TIGERS V SALE SHARKS 

TODAY 

NEWCASTLE FALCONS V SARACENS 

Newcastle Falcons’ seven-game losing run in Gallagher Premiership Rugby 

ended with their 30-15 victory at home to Bristol Bears last Friday night. 

The Falcons have not won back-to-back Premiership Rugby matches for 12 

months. 

Saracens have maximum league points from their three matches so far this 

season in Gallagher Premiership Rugby. 

Saracens’ only defeat in their last five away games in Premiership Rugby 

was 7-54 at Gloucester in Round 26 last season. 

Saracens have won their last 20 encounters with Newcastle in 

Premiership Rugby since the Falcons’ 13-9 win at Kingston Park 

in February 2009. 

20 

Newcastle Falcons centre Matias Orlando (left) 

Newcastle Falcons hooker George McGuigan

Newcastle Falcons wing Mateo Carreras made more metres 

than any other player in the last round of matches, with 

129, the nearest challenger being Saracens’ Elliot Daly on 

107. 

WASPS V NORTHAMPTON SAINTS 

Northampton Saints have won only one of their last five 

Gallagher Premiership Rugby fixtures: 38-22 at home to 

London Irish in Round 2. 

The Saints have lost their last four away games in 

Premiership Rugby since beating Bath 36-31 at the Rec 

in April. 

Northampton’s only defeat in their last four Premiership 

Rugby clashes with Wasps was 20-26 at Coventry in 

this equivalent fixture in Round 4 last season. 

The Saints have won on three of their last five visits to 

Coventry in all tournaments. 

Wasps fly-half Jacob Umaga 

Northampton captain Lewis Ludlam 

Wasps’ five-match win-less run in Gallagher 

Premiership Rugby ended with their 39-31 

triumph at Bath last time out. 

Wasps have lost their last two 

Premiership Rugby matches at Coventry 

Building Society Arena since beating 

Worcester Warriors there on April 23. 

21

22 

SEASONAL HOSPITALITY GUESTS 

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FIFTEEN AT THE FALCONS 

Northumbria University - Jennie Barton 

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Kai Whiting 

INTERNATIONAL SUITE 

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Railview 

100 CLUB 

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OFFICIAL CLUB PARTNERS

FIRST TEAM SQUAD 

1. 

1. 

1. 

1. 

JOSH BARTON 

Scrum-half 

15/12/1997 

Height: 1.75m (5ft 8) 

Weight: 85kg (13st 5) 

JAMIE BLAMIRE 

Hooker 

22/12/1997 

Height: 1.85m (6ft) 


Honours: England 

ADAM BROCKLEBANK 

Prop 

06/09/1995 



Honours: England Students 

CONRAD CADE 

Prop 

27/01/1997 




1. 

1. 

1. 

1. 

MATEO CARRERAS 

Wing 

17/12/1999 



Honours: Argentina 

CALLUM CHICK 

Back row 

25/11/1996 




Geoff & Marie 

Penrice 

CONNOR COLLETT 

Back row 

05/02/1996 



BRETT CONNON 

Fly-half 

29/08/1996 


Weight: 89kg (14st) 

Honours: Ireland U20 

1. 

1. 

1. 

1. 

MATTHEW DALTON 

Lock 

16/11/1998 




TREVOR DAVISON 

Prop 

20/08/1992 




SEBASTIAN DE CHAVES 

Lock 

30/10/1990 



Honours: South Africa U20 

NATHAN EARLE 

Wing 

25/09/1994 



Honours: England XV 

1. 

1. 

1. 

1. 

24 

CARL FEARNS 

Back row 

28/05/1989 



Honours: England A 

GARY GRAHAM 

Back row 

29/08/1992 



Honours: Scotland 

CONOR KENNY 

Prop 

25/07/1996 




FREDDIE LOCKWOOD 

Back row 

31/12/2000 



Honours: England U19

1. 

1. 

1. 

1. 

PETE LUCOCK 

Centre 

27/11/1992 



CHARLIE MADDISON 

Hooker 

24/06/1991 



TOM MARSHALL 

Back row 

20/10/1999 



Honours: Scotland U20 

GEORGE MCGUIGAN 

Hooker 

30/03/1993 




1. 

1. 

1. 

1. 

GEORGE MERRICK 

Lock 

04/10/1992 



Honours: England U20 

MATIAS MORONI 

Centre 

10/07/1991 




LOGOVI’I MULIPOLA 

Prop 

11/03/1987 



Honours: Samoa 

CAMERON NORDLI-KELEMETI 

Scrum-half 

20/09/1999 




1. 

1. 

1. 

1. 

MATIAS ORLANDO 

Centre 

14/11/1991 




RICHARD PALFRAMAN 

Prop 

20/12/1993 



TOM PENNY 

Full-back 

13/10/1994 



JOSH PETERS 

Lock 

10/12/1995 



Honours: Spain 

1. 

1. 

1. 

1. 

GREG PETERSON 

Lock 

26/03/1991 



Honours: USA 

VEREIMI QOROWALE 

Wing/centre 

27/01/1995 



ADAM RADWAN 

Wing 

30/12/1997 




SEAN ROBINSON 

Lock 

08/02/1991 


The 


Blackbirds Honours: England Students 25

MOTOR GROUP 

1. 

1. 

1. 

1. 

TIAN SCHOEMAN 

Fly-half 

23/09/1991 

Height: 1.82m (5ft 10) 


IWAN STEPHENS 

Wing 

24/03/2002 




BEN STEVENSON 

Wing/centre 

19/07/1998 




SAM STUART 

Scrum-half 

27/09/1991 




1. 

1. 

1. 

1. 

ALEX TAIT 

Full-back 

18/03/1988 




Jack & Jonquil 

Stewart 

MARK TAMPIN 

Prop 

20/01/1992 



JOSH THOMAS 

Fly-half 

30/06/2000 



Honours: Wales U20 

PHILIP VAN DER WALT 

Back-row 

14/07/1989 



1. 

1. 

1. 1. 

GEORGE WACOKECOKE 

Centre 

23/10/1995 




WILL WELCH 

Back row 

03/04/1990 




MICHAEL YOUNG 

Scrum-half 

31/12/1988 




ELLIOTT OBATOYINBO 

Full-back/wing 

9/10/1998 




FIRST TEAM STAFF 

1. 

1. 

1. 

1. 

DAVE WALDER 

Head coach 

MARK LAYCOCK 

Coach 

MICKY WARD 

Coach 

MARK WILSON 

Coach 

26

1. 

1. 

1. 

1. 

SCOTT MACLEOD 

Coach 

JOHN STOKOE 

Team manager 

KEVIN MCSHANE 

Head of athletic performance 

LEWIS WILLIAMS 

Strength and conditioning coach 

Geoff & Marie 

Penrice 

1. 

1. 

1. 

1. 

TIM PAYNE 

Strength and conditioning coach 

STEVE BREMNER 

Opposition and recruitment 

analyst 

MATT HODKINSON 

Tactical analyst 

RHYS GRIFFITHS 

Head physio 

1. 

1. 

1. 

1. 

ANDY SHEA 

Physio 

DERMOT AUSTIN 

Physio 

TOBY TREMLETT 

Physio 

RACHEL SCURFIELD 

Lead doctor 

1. 

1. 

1. 

1. 

DEAN SHIPSEY 

Match-day doctor 

ANDY RAMSHAW 

Match-day doctor 

ANDREW CRUICKSHANK 

Psychologist 

ALAN BASKERVILLE 

Kit manager 

27

SENIOR ACADEMY SQU 

1. 

1. 

1. 

1. 

JAMES BLACKETT 

Scrum-half 

22/10/2001 




PHIL BRANTINGHAM 

Prop 

02/10/2001 




JEREMY CIVIL 

Centre 

02/05/2004 



LUKE COULSTON 

Lock 

17/07/2004 

Height: 2m (6ft 6) 



1. 

1. 

1. 

1. 

MATT DEEHAN 

Back row 

04/10/2002 



Honours: Scotland U20 

MARK DORMER 

Prop 

16/09/2002 




BEN DOUGLAS 

Scrum-half 

16/01/2004 




Joan 

Milne 

OLLIE FLETCHER 

Hooker 

09/09/2002 




1. 

1. 

1. 

1. 

EWAN GREENLAW 

Centre 

14/03/2003 




NATHAN GREENWOOD 

Wing 

20/11/2003 



Honours: England 7s 

LOUIE JOHNSON 

Fly-half 

13/06/2003 




ZACH KERR 

Centre/wing 

13/12/1999 



1. 

1. 

1. 

1. 

28 

CHIDERA OBONNA 

Centre/wing 

18/10/2000 




GUY PEPPER 

Back row 

15/04/2003 




MIKE REWCASTLE 

Prop 

17/05/2004 




CHARLIE SMITH 

Hooker 

19/01/2004 



Honours: England U18

AD & ACADEMY STAFF 

1. 1. 1. 

MARCUS TIFFEN 

Back row 

03/09/2002 



SAM CLARK 

Prop 

31/1/2004 

Height: 1.84m (6 ft) 


OLIVER SPENCER 

Full-back 

22/2/2004 




1. 1. 

1. 

1. 

JAMES PONTON 

Head of academy 

PJ BUTLER 

Academy coach 

JACK HAYES 

Academy coach 

KEITH ROBINSON 

Academy DPP manager 

1. 

1. 

1. 

1. 

MICHAEL FERGUSON 

Head academy strength and 

conditioning coach 

SHAUN MCLAREN 

Junior academy strength and 

conditioning coach 

NICK TODD 

Academy performance analyst 

FRAZER BELL 

Senior academy physio 

1. 1. 

TO SPONSOR A PLAYER EMAIL 

CORPORATESALES@NEWCASTLE-FALCONS.CO.UK 

CAIN WILKINSON 

Junior academy physio 

29

FROM THE PRESS BOX 

By Mark Smith 

Newcastle Falcons media manager 

I keep being told that Newcastle is a city where the media doesn’t care 

about rugby, but the facts say otherwise. 

If you’ll forgive me for indulging in a little family milestone, today is almost 

20 years to the day that my dad, Ian Smith, did his first radio summarising 

gig for BBC Newcastle. And he’s been involved in broadcasting pretty much 

every Falcons game since. 

His innings of ’20 not-out’ began with a 19-12 European Challenge Cup victory 

away to Grenoble, where he had travelled as part of the Falcons’ backroom 

staff and been roped into helping long-time commentator Kevin Williams. 

the thousands upon thousands of miles of travelling just to get there. 

Philadelphia, Tbilisi, Cluj, Calvisano, Brive (four times!). You name it, he’s 

been there, calling the tries, the penalties and offering his own unique brand 

of advice to referees. 

Flanked for much of the last decade by ‘Man of Northern’ Dean Gray, 

BBC Newcastle continue to provide commentaries home and away in 

all competitions, even making the trip to a sparsely-populated arena in 

Coventry for a recent Tuesday night Prem Cup game when supporters of 

both clubs had thought otherwise. 

Once turned into twice, and before he knew it he was a permanent fixture 

on the airwaves – the Robin to Kevin’s Batman, calling Falcons games from 

all corners of Europe. 

When Williams retired to sunnier Spanish climes around a decade ago my old 

man made the move from summariser to commentator, the radio equivalent 

of trading fly-half for tight-head prop! 

Aside from the obvious grind of planning the schedules, scripts and getting 

the interviews, it is a role which comes with many technical and logistical 

challenges. Until that little green light appears on his broadcast box it’s still in 

the balance as to whether there’ll be any commentary at all, not to mention 

He’s had battles with station bosses to fight rugby’s corner, and despite my 

own obvious bias the feedback from listeners appears to be as good as ever. 

BBC 5 Live Sports Extra certainly think enough of his commentaries to 

regularly give them exposure on the national DAB network, and it is not a 

service that we as a club will ever take for granted. 

I speak regularly to media managers at all the Gallagher Premiership outfits, 

and for breadth and quality of coverage I’m constantly told we have it good. 

So when somebody tries to tell you the North-East media don’t care about 

rugby, there’s a 20-year broadcast veteran who can say otherwise. 

: BBC Newcastle commentator Ian Smith (right) with summariser Dean Gray. 

31

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ALL OUR YESTERDAYS 

K i n g sley Hyl andcontinues his 

historical journey through the club archives, 

picking out some key moments 

from this week throughout the years. 

45 years ago – October 8-12, 1977 

1977 was a momentous year for what was then Gosforth 

Football Club. The culmination of the 1976-77 

season had seen the club win the national knockout 

cup for the second successive year, but even more 

significantly the club celebrated its 100th birthday in 

1977. 

Discussions leading to the formation of the club had 

begun in early 1877 at the home of one of the club’s 

founders, which is now the site of the Ahad Indian 

Restaurant off Gosforth High Street. The club’s first 

match, against Northern, was played on November 

3, 1877, and so the 1977-78 season was set aside for 

the Centenary celebrations with two of the highlights 

falling in October. 

On Saturday October 8 the club hosted the USA 

national side as part of their first ever UK tour. 

The club had become regular visitors to the States, 

having been invited to participate in a tournament 

in 1973. With a high dependence on guest players 

covering for players who could not get two weeks 

off work, the team participated as the Gaffers, an 

acronym for Gosforth and Footballing Friends. Such 

was the success of that tour that they were invited 

to return in 1976. They would travel to Boston again 

in 1980 and 1987. 

Rugby was very much a minority sport in the US, 

existing in the shadows of American football, 

basketball, baseball and (ice) hockey. Even 

professional soccer was in its infancy. 

As a mark of respect for their visitors the Gosforth 

side contained all but two of the players who had 

participated in the Twickenham cup final in April. 

Gosforth emerged as 18-12 winners, with tries from 

Dave Robinson, Terry Roberts and Stewart Archer 

plus two penalty goals from Malcolm Young. The 

wonderfully named Clarence Culpepper scored a late 

consolation try for the visitors, which was converted 

by full-back Dennis Jablonski. 

Highlights of the match were shown later that 

evening on BBC Two’s Rugby Special. The match 

itself was followed by what is recorded in the club’s 

fixture card as a ‘Special Dance’ in the clubhouse. A 

week later the USA lost 11-37 to the full England team 

at Twickenham. 

Four days later on October 12 the club played host 

to 450 guests for a Centenary Dinner at Newcastle 

Civic Centre. The great and the good of English and 

Northumberland rugby were invited along with 

representatives of all of the senior clubs, and the 

clubs that had featured on the Gosforth fixture list. 

Guests feasted on a dinner of smoked mackerel, 

cock-a-leekie soup, roast sirloin of Angus beef 

with Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes and Brussel 

sprouts, apple pie with Cornish dairy ice cream, fruit 

and cheese. 

38 

The special motif designed to mark the club’s 

Centenary year 

A toast to the club was proposed by the President 

of the Rugby Football Union, Sir G.A.Wharton CBE, 

TD, DL. The driving force behind the dinner, Douglas 

Smith, who had been had been invited to become 

club President for a second time to mark the 

Centenary should have responded, but such was the 

stress of the occasion that he had been hospitalised 

a few days before, and his senior vice-president Ray 

Wood stepped into the breach. Former club President 

Barry de Swaan

An extract from the programme for the Gosforth v USA Eagles match on 

October 8, 1977] 

proposed a toast to the guests, to which the great former Irish 

and British Lions prop Ray McLoughlin, a past club captain, responded. 

A number of other events to mark the Centenary took place 

over the course of the season, including a concert at the City 

Hall. 

The club also adopted a new motif featuring a goose to mark 

the Centenary season. A number of hypotheses as to how 

Gosforth got its name involved geese. The ground on the Great 

North Road abutted the Ouseburn, and ‘Gese Ford’ referred 

to a ford or crossing over the burn. An alternative hypothesis 

suggests that the name derived from Gosaford meaning a ford 

where geese dwelt. 

Although Gosforth were the premier club rugby side in the 

country at that time, apart from cup matches attendances at 

home games rarely topped 300. The majority of these would 

be club members whose membership subscriptions gave 

them free entry, whilst non-members paid £3 for admission, 

for which they also received a programme. 

The club’s principal sources of income were members’ subscriptions 

and bar take, with the club hosting numerous social 

events. A glance at the fixture card for that season reveals 

that almost all first team home games were followed by a 

‘Dance’ in the clubhouse – a euphemism for a disco. First team 

players were expected to attend, and a number would man the 

door to take payment and later to deter gate-crashers from 

the Three Mile Inn, which under the licensing laws in those days 

was forced to close at 10.30pm. Visiting teams would also often 

stay for the evening. 

A list of social events for Gosforth’s Centenary year, 

taken from the members’ fixture card. 

39

5 YEARS AGO – SEPTEMBER 16, 2017 

Continuing with the American theme, today’s visitors Saracens 

also featured early in the Falcons’ fixture list in 2017-18, but on 

this occasion the match, a home match for the Falcons, took 

place some 3,500 miles west of Kingston Park at the Talen 

Energy Stadium in Philadelphia, the home of the Philadelphia 

Union Major League soccer team. 

The Falcons had agreed to take the fixture as it was heavily 

subsidised by organisers AEG, one of the world’s leading sports 

and entertainment companies. 

The USA was seen as rugby’s great untapped market, and it 

was hoped that after Saracens had hosted London Irish in New 

Jersey the previous season the event would attract a full house 

to the 18,500 seat capacity stadium adjacent to the Delaware 

River. 

In the event, scheduling the match on the same day as College 

American Football meant that the stadium was barely 

a third full as the game kicked off in 30-degree heat. Rather 

embarrassingly, the stadium announcer had to ask spectators 

topping up their tans in the uncovered seats to move to the 

centre of the stand to give the impression of a larger crowd 

for the cameras. 

The Falcons had started the season well with victories over 

Worcester and Sale, but were missing Toby Flood and big-name 

signings DTH Van der Merwe and Maxin Mermoz. 

Sarries for their part were able to field one of the Premiership’s 

strongest ever line-ups. A brave, backs-to-the-wall performance 

by the Falcons was never going to be enough to repel 

such stellar opponents, and their cause was not helped as 

they persisted in earning the displeasure of JP Doyle, a referee 

unlikely to feature very highly in a list of the Falcons’ all-time 

favourite officials. 

Saracens took an early lead with a well-worked try. Maro Itoje 

secured lineout ball, Owen Farrell launched a wraparound and 

Liam Williams and Alex Goode combined to send in American 

Chris Wyles, Farrell converting. 

The Falcons soon drew level as Chris Harris pressured 

Jamie George into spilling Farrell’s pass on the Falcons’ 

22. Mark Wilson picked up the loose ball and showed 

an impressive turn of pace before putting Niki Goneva 

away for a try, converted by Joel Hodgson. 

It would take Saracens until the 75th minute before 

they breached the Falcons’ line, again in controversial 

circumstances, but in the interim period persistent Falcons’ 

offending enabled Sarries to build a lead. Farrell 

struck two penalties to make it 13-7 at half-time, followed 

by a further three penalties in the final quarter 

before that late score. 

The referee awarded a penalty try and a yellow card 

after deeming Goneva had deliberately knocked-on 

a scoring pass close to the Falcons’ line. Goneva had 

gathered the ball and had a clear run to the line. Had 

the referee bothered to consult his touch judge or the 

television match official it would have been pointed out 

to him that the ball had in fact struck Goneva on the 

head, and so was not a knock-on. 

Had Goneva been allowed to score the try, a conversion 

would have taken the Falcons to within eight points, 

with five minutes remaining to try to secure at least 

a bonus point. 

The teams that day were as follows: 

Newcastle Falcons: S.Hammersley; A.Tait; C.Harris; 

J.Matavesi (rep.JP Socino 51); V.Goneva; J.Hodgson (rep. 

B.Agulla 69); S.Takulua (rep. S.Stuart 69); R.Vickers (rep. 

S.Mavinga 65); S.Lawson (rep. S.Socino 51); J.Welsh 

(rep. T.Davison 57); C.Green; S.Robinson (rep. W.Witty 

59); M.Wilson; W.Welch (capt); N.Latu (rep. A.Hogg 65). 

Saracens: A.Goode; L.Williams; B.Barritt (capt); M. 

Bosch (rep. N.Tompkins 65); C.Wyles; O.Farrell; B.Spencer 

(rep. R.Wigglesworth 53); M.Vunipola (rep.H.Thompson-Stringer 

72); J.George (rep. C.Tolufua 59); J.Figallo 

(rep. K.Longbottom 59); N.Isiekwe (rep. D.Day 67); M.Itoje; 

M.Rhodes; S.Burger (rep. J.Wray); B.Vunipola. 

40

The home of 

domestic rugby

FIXTURES & RESULTS 

AUGUST 

F: Fri Aug 26 v Leicester Tigers(L 42-28) 

SEPTEMBER 

F: Fri Sep 2 v Doncaster Knights (W 29-33) 

GP: SAT SEP 10 V HARLEQUINS (L 31-40) 

GP: Sat Sep 17 v Leicester Tigers (L 36-21) 

PRC: Tue Sep 20 v Wasps (L 35-21) 

GP: Sat Sep 24 v Worcester Warriors (L 39-5) 

PRC: TUE SEP 27 V SALE SHARKS (L 21-29) 

GP: FRI SEP 30 V BRISTOL BEARS (W 30-15) 

OCTOBER 

GP: SUN OCT 9 V SARACENS (3pm) 

GP: Sat Oct 15 v Northampton Saints (3pm) 

PRC: Wed Oct 19 v Leicester Tigers (7pm) 

GP: Sun Oct 30 v Wasps (3pm) 

NOVEMBER 

GP: SAT NOV 5 V BATH RUGBY (3pm) 

GP: Sat Nov 12 v Gloucester Rugby (3pm) 

PRC: SAT NOV 19 V NORTHAMPTON SAINTS (3.30 pm) 

GP: FRI NOV 25 V EXETER CHIEFS (7.45PM) 

DECEMBER 

GP: Sat Dec 3 v London Irish (3pm) 

ECC: Dec 9/10/11 v Connacht 

ECC: DEC 16/17/18 v CARDIFF 

GP: DEC 23/24/26 V SALE SHARKS 

GP: Dec 30/31/Jan 1 v Bath Rugby 

JANUARY 

GP: Jan 6/7/8 v Saracens 

ECC: Jan 13/14/15 v Cardiff 

ECC: JAN 20/21/22 v CONNACHT 

GP: JAN 27/28/29 V NORTHAMPTON SAINTS 

FEBRUARY 

GP: Feb 3/4/5 v Bristol Bears 

GP: FEB 10/11/12 V LEICESTER TIGERS 

GP: Feb 17/18/19 v Harlequins 

PRC: Feb 24/25/26: Semi-finals 

MARCH 

GP: MAR 3/4/5 V GLOUCESTER RUGBY 

GP: MAR 17/18/19 V LONDON IRISH 

GP: Mar 24/25/26 v Exeter Chiefs 

APRIL 

ECC: Mar 31/Apr 1/2: Round of 16 

ECC: Apr 7/8/9: Quarter-final 

GP: APR 14/15/16 V WORCESTER WARRIORS 

GP: APR 21/22/23 V WASPS 

ECC: Apr 28/29/30: Semi-final 

MAY 

PRC: May 2/3: Final 

GP: SAT MAY 6 v Sale Sharks 

GP: SAT MAY 13: Semi-final 

ECC: Fri May 19: Final 

GP: Sat May 27: Final 

NEXT TIME AT KP 

V BATH RUGBY 

SAT November 5th 

Gallagher Premiership 

Kick-off: 3pm 

42 

KEY: GP = Gallagher Premiership, ECC = EPCR Challenge Cup, PRC = Premiership Rugby Cup, F = Friendly. 

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IN OPPOSITIO 

Alex Lozowski 

Elliot Daly 

48 

Max Malins

N - SARACENS 

Saracens have entered the 2022-23 season with a point to prove 

and looking to go one better than their previous campaign. 

The Londoners finished last season as Gallagher Premiership 

runners-up, losing out to Leicester Tigers in dramatic fashion in 

the final at Twickenham. Freddie Burns drop-kicked the Tigers 

to glory with less than a minute to go on the clock. 

Saracens finished as closest rivals to Tigers at second 

place in the regular-season standings, recording 17 

wins, one draw and six losses. This included a double 

over the Falcons, both high-scoring affairs, with 

Saracens overturning a half-time deficit at the 

StoneX Stadium to win 37-23 and the return fixture 

at Kingston Park, ending 21-36. 

Saracens are headed by director of rugby Mark 

McCall, who is in his 13th season with the club. 

By Saracens’ standards, one could argue they 

have had a relatively quiet signing period ahead 

of the 2022-23 season. Besides four high-quality 

arrivals, the club look to have promoted from within, with 

six academy players moving up into the first team fold. 

The first of the four signings to the StoneX is the highlyrated 

Hugh Tizard. The 22-year-old second-rower joined from 

London rivals Harlequins and made his competitive debut 

against his former club in the opening round of this season. 

His performances so far have earned him a call-up into Eddie 

Jones’ England training squad, which met this week. 

An influx of front-row options were also brought in to bolster 

the pack for Saracens with the club signing two tight-heads 

and one loose-head prop, possibly to fill the void left by 

veterans Vincent Koch and Richard Barrington, who left to join 

Wasps and Agen respectively. 

This included a re-signing of Christian Judge, the 29-yearold 

tight-head returning for a second spell at the club after 

stints with Bath and Worcester. Sarries also signed Argentina 

international Eduardo Bello from Italian side Zebre and James 

Flynn from Championship club Jersey Reds. 

Heading out of the door have been former Falcon Tim 

Swinson, retiring from the game, and Namibian international 

Janco Venter, who was released from the club. 

Some may recognise another departure from the London outfit 

as new boy to Kingston Park, Elliott Obatoyinbo – the high-flying 

fullback and winger who joined Newcastle Falcons on a short-term 

deal last month. 

Due to their extended season last year Saracens’ pre-season 

campaign saw them only play one game, against Championship 

side Ampthill. Held at StoneX Stadium, Saracens proved to be 

too much for their visitors from Bedfordshire, cruising to a 59-14 

victory. 

Having a bye-week for the first round of the Gallagher Premiership, 

Saracens’ form continued with a second-round victory against 

2020-21 champions, Harlequins. A tight affair saw Saracens come 

from behind for a bonus-point win, with the scores finishing 27-30 

at the Stoop. 

Max Malins crossed twice in between scores from Elliot Daly and 

Nick Tompkins. Owen Farrell kicked two conversions and one 

penalty, with Elliot Daly slotting another. 

Another notable performance came two weeks ago against 

Gloucester in another comeback victory. Trailing 36-20, Saracens 

went on to win 41-39, with Owen Farrell confirming the win with 

the last kick of the game. Tries came from Max Malins. Ben Earl, 

Josh Hallett and a brace from Tom Woolstencroft. 

Sarries maintained their unbeaten start to the season in fine 

style last weekend in a repeat of the Premiership final, putting 

champions Leicester Tigers to the sword in a 51-18 thumping. 

An impressive all-round team performance saw tries from Alex 

Lozowski, Ben Eark, Ivan van Zyl, Elliot Daly, Theo McFarland and 

Sean Maitland, with the boot of Owen Farrell adding a further 14 

points. 

It was a performance which backed up the words of McCall, who 

said: “We want to play a bit differently this season. 

“There’ll be a bit more ball-in-hand when it’s on, and it’ll be better 

than it has been previously. We want to improve our attack, like 

everyone, and we’ve got an experienced group of players who can 

think their way through situations.” 

49

IN OPPOSITION - 

OWEN FARRELL 

It’s difficult to discuss Saracens without mentioning the main 

man himself, Owen Farrell. The fly-half has been instrumental 

in Sarries’ success with five Premiership, one Championship and 

three European titles under his belt. 

Featuring consistently since his debut in 2008, Farrell has made 

over 200 appearances for his club and totted up over 2,300 

points. He has also become a stalwart for Eddie Jones’ England 

side, playing across fly-half and inside centre. Farrell has earned 

over 100 caps for his country and is the third top points scorers 

in test history, with over 1,000 to his name. 

Named European Player of the Year for 2017 and 2018, Farrell has 

also earned call-ups to the British & Irish Lions squad, and was 

a key player in the successful tour of Australia in 2013 and the 

drawn tour of New Zealand in 2017. 

BILLY VUNIPOLA 

29-year-old Billy Vunipola joined Saracens from Wasps in 2013 and has 

gone on to make over 150 appearances for the club. 

The No. 8 has seen somewhat of a resurgence in his form in recent 

months and has been one of the stand-out players for Saracens from 

the tail end of last season through to the opening games this year. 

With over 60 caps for England Vunipola had fallen out of favour with 

current head coach Eddie Jones, but with recent dominant performances 

for his club he earned a recall into the squad for the summer series 

against Australia, which England went on to win 2-1. Vunipola featured 

in all three tests.

THREE TO WATCH 

HUGH TIZARD 

Tizard signed for Saracens ahead of the 2022-23 season from London 

rivals Harlequins, where he made over 40 appearances for the 2020-21 

Premiership champions. His decision to switch to Saracens stemmed 

from his desire to play for England and alongside Maro Itoje. 

He made his competitive debut for Saracens against his former club 

Harlequins in Round 1 of the 2022-23 Gallagher Premiership, helping them 

to a 30-27 win. 

The 22-year-old second row has been one to watch for many this season, 

including England head coach Eddie Jones. Capped at Under-20s level and 

after impressing in recent performances, Tizard moved closer to earning 

his first team cap having been recently selected in England’s ‘mini training 

camp’ this week. 

DIRECTOR OF RUGBY 

MARK McCALL 

Mark McCall joined Saracens from French side Castres for the 2009-10 

season to work as first team coach under Brendan Venter. The club went 

on to reach their first Premiership final that term, losing out to Leicester 

Tigers. Venter changed roles in 2011, paving the way for McCall to step up 

as director of rugby. 

The former Ireland international had also previously enjoyed coaching 

stints at Ireland A and Under-21s before taking the helm at Irish province 

Ulster in 2004, leading the team to a Celtic League title after just two 

years in charge. 

McCall is in his 13th term at Saracens and has overseen significant 

success. During his tenure he has guided the club to an impressive 

five premiership and three European titles, the most notable campaign 

coming in 2015-16 where the side achieved the Premiership and European 

Cup double. This stellar record has seen him earn four director of rugby of 

the year awards. 

51

NORTHUMBERLAND RUGBY UNION 

STATE OF PLAY 

With the season into its second month it is now an opportune 

time to see how our community clubs in Northumberland fared 

in September in the English Clubs Championship. In summary it is 

something of a mixed bag. 

Our highest ranked community club, Tynedale, made a mockery 

of their reputation as slow starters as they were quick out of 

the blocks to record wins in their first three matches against 

Sheffield, Blaydon and Sheffield Tigers before coming a cropper at 

Rotherham, a defeat which saw them drop to sixth in the National 

Two North table. 

Alnwick continue to find life comfortable at level 5, and despite a 

narrow defeat at Penrith they ended the month fifth in Regional One 

North East, courtesy of victories over York, Ilkley and Billingham. 

Three of our teams are competing in Regional Two North, and pride 

of place goes to Morpeth, who ended September at the top of the 

table with a full house of four bonus point wins. Northern started 

the season with a 22-26 defeat to Percy Park despite a determined 

second-half fightback. With three wins out of four Northern and 

Park occupied fourth and fifth places respectively. 

Despite losing out to Novos in the ‘Heaton Derby’ Medicals made a 

great start in Counties 1 Durham and Northumberland, and ended 

the month second behind West Hartlepool, closely followed in third 

by Whitley Bay Rockcliff, whose sole defeat in September was at the 

hands of Medicals. 

Our teams have less well in Counties Two Durham and 

Northumberland. 

Ashington ended the month in third place with two wins from 

four, but were already seven points adrift of leaders Ryton. North 

Shields lay sixth, also with two wins from four but having secured 

three fewer bonus points than Ashington. Promoted Wallsend were 

struggling in 11th place with just a single win, 38-27 over local rivals 

North Shields. 

It is too early to judge what is happening in Counties Three Durham 

and Northumberland as they played just two games each in 

September. 

Prudhoe and Stocksfield ended the month in top spot with two wins, 

ahead of Gosforth in second on points difference. At the other end 

of the table Seghill sat in tenth place, having lost heavily at home to 

Gosforth and conceded a walkover to Houghton. Blyth, meanwhile, 

ended the month in seventh, their sole point coming in the narrow 

14-15 defeat at Yarm. 

Away from the leagues it is heartening to see Border Park playing 

Tynedale in action against Blaydon 

again, having met a Ryton XV under lights on September 23. 

52

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AND THE RUGBY COMMUNITY 

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CLUB NEWS 

SUPPORTING THE RED SKY 

FOUNDATION 

Newcastle Falcons are delighted to be supporting the Red Sky 

Foundation as our associated charity for today’s Gallagher 

Premiership fixture against Saracens. 

Red Sky Foundation is a registered heart charity raising vital 

funds to provide North East hospitals with machines and 

equipment to give babies, children and now adults living with 

complex heart conditions the best possible diagnosis and 

treatment. 

The charity also runs a CPR educational programme and installs 

public accessible life-saving defibrillators outside of schools, 

communities and city centres across the region to give as 

many people as possible the best chance of surviving a sudden 

cardiac arrest. 

They have kindly donated a defibrillator to Newcastle Rugby that 

will be accessible within our Kingston Park Stadium, adding to 

our already stellar match-day safety operations. 

The not-for-profit charity uses 100% of its funds to provide 

lifesaving equipment, so they rely on donations to continue their 

amazing work. 

If you can, we ask that you please show your support for the 

Red Sky Foundation by donating today. 

On-site we have bucket collections and posters with a QR code 

for direct donation 

You can also donate by texting FALCONS and your donation 

amount to 70450. 

Please note that texts will cost the donation amount plus one 

standard network rate message. 

All donations are greatly appreciated. 

To find out more about the Red Sky Foundation and the amazing 

work they do, visit www.redskyfoundation.com . 

55

PLAYER STATS 

Name 

Falcons 

career 

apps 


career 

points 


career 

tries 

Season 

2022-23 

apps 

Season 

2022-23 

points 

Season 

2022-23 

tries 

Name 


career 

apps 


career 

points 


career 

tries 

Season 

2022-23 

apps 

Season 

2022-23 

points 

Season 

2022-23 

tries 

Josh Barton 3 5 1 3 5 1 George McGuigan 159 230 46 4 25 5 

George Bennett-Teare 3 0 0 2 0 0 Oliver Melville 1 0 0 1 0 0 

James Blackett 5 3 0 2 3 0 George Merrick 9 0 0 4 0 0 

Jamie Blamire 67 60 12 4 0 0 Matias Moroni 1 0 0 1 0 0 

Phil Brantingham 5 0 0 3 0 0 Logovi'i Mulipola 63 20 4 2 5 1 

Adam Brocklebank 78 0 0 2 0 0 Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti 31 15 3 3 0 0 

Conrad Cade 7 0 0 3 0 0 Elliott Obatoyinbo 2 5 1 2 5 1 

Mateo Carreras 20 25 5 3 15 3 Chidera Obonna 5 5 1 0 0 0 

Callum Chick 108 85 17 2 0 0 Matias Orlando 22 10 2 1 0 0 

Jeremy Civil 2 0 0 2 0 0 Richard Palframan 10 0 0 2 0 0 

Sam Clark 0 0 0 0 0 0 Tom Penny 75 40 8 2 0 0 

Connor Collett 22 10 2 3 5 1 Guy Pepper 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Brett Connon 71 298 2 3 14 0 Josh Peters 2 5 1 2 5 1 

Luke Coulston 0 0 0 0 0 0 Greg Peterson 60 15 3 4 0 0 

Matthew Dalton 3 0 0 1 0 0 Vereimi Qorowale 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Trevor Davison 97 20 4 4 0 0 Adam Radwan 74 220 44 4 5 1 

Sebastien de Chaves 18 0 0 3 0 0 Mike Rewcastle 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Matt Deehan 2 0 0 1 0 0 Sean Robinson 130 65 13 4 0 0 

Mark Dormer 2 0 0 2 0 0 Tian Schoeman 4 10 0 4 10 0 

Ben Douglas 3 0 0 2 0 0 Charlie Smith 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Nathan Earle 13 20 4 2 5 1 Oliver Spencer 0 0 0 0 0 0 

Carl Fearns 19 5 1 0 0 0 Iwan Stephens 8 20 4 2 5 1 

Ollie Fletcher 3 0 0 2 0 0 Ben Stevenson 51 80 18 2 0 0 

Gary Graham 88 80 16 0 0 0 Sam Stuart 63 30 6 1 0 0 

Ewan Greenlaw 1 0 0 1 0 0 Alex Tait 263 190 38 3 0 0 

Nathan Greenwood 1 5 1 1 5 1 Mark Tampin 57 0 0 4 0 0 

Will Hopes 2 0 0 2 0 0 Josh Thomas 2 8 0 2 8 0 

Louie Johnson 3 6 0 2 6 0 Marcus Tiffen 3 10 2 2 5 1 

Conor Kenny 3 0 0 2 0 0 Philip van der Walt 35 10 2 0 0 0 

Zach Kerr 8 5 1 2 0 0 George Wacokecoke 60 75 15 3 0 0 

Freddie Lockwood 10 0 0 0 0 0 Rory Ward 2 0 0 2 0 0 

Pete Lucock 29 5 1 3 0 0 Will Welch 274 90 18 3 0 0 

Charlie Maddison 21 5 1 4 0 0 Michael Young 182 100 20 0 0 0 

Tom Marshall 9 5 1 2 0 0

GLOBAL 

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We are committed to our local communities— 

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7th Floor, 55 Blythswood Street, Glasgow, G2 7AT. Registered in Scotland. Company Number: SC108909. FP1160-2021 Exp 06.09.2022 | ARTUK-4318

Newcastle Falcons vs Saracens - Programme

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