Bristol’s trials continue, Fotuali’i shines again for Bath and Saints show title credentials even in losing
Leicester sit in the top four having won two of their three opening games but they could just as easily be bottom staring at three opening defeats. As was the case in their opening game at Gloucester they should have lost at Newcastle, saved only by a mishit drop-goal by Joel Hodgson with the game’s final kick and a plethora of other missed Falcons opportunities. “At times they made us look very ordinary and there were also times when we made ourselves look very ordinary,” admitted Richard Cockerill, the Tigers’ director of rugby. Newcastle can at least take some solace from the manner in which they bounced back from their heavy defeat in Bath. On a lovely day this was also a good advert for the matchday experience at Kingston Park. Another smart new bar has been opened, the tuck shop beneath the main stand sells just about every sweet a kid could wish for and the big rival attraction, Newcastle’s football team, are now in the Championship. And yet 52,000 still trekked to St James’ Park to watch the Magpies lose 2-0 to Wolves the previous day while fewer than 7,000 attended Kingston Park on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon. What, aside from a few more wins, will it take to make a day at the rugby more popular in the north east? Answers on a postcard to Mick Hogan, the Falcons’ ever-optimistic chief executive. Robert Kitson
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