Newcastle, who have had the safety net of Jonny Wilkinson's left boot for the last 11 years, were last night kicking themselves as they headed back up the A1 having gifted an improbable two points to the Premiership's new arrivals.
After shunting the Leeds pack around for most of the afternoon, Newcastle came close to coming completely unstuck in the dying minutes after the man who has replaced Toulon's Wilkinson in their No10 shirt missed four of his first five kicks at goal. Jimmy Gopperth, a Junior All Black, redeemed himself a little with two penalties in the second half but Steve Bates, the Newcastle coach, came close to being economical with the truth when he said: "I don't think it's entered his head that Jonny used to play here. He is his own man."
Bates was probably closer to the mark when he added: "Jimmy will be disappointed at missing a few kicks … his kicking record is pretty good. He was a pretty nervous person about today. There's been a bit of tension in the camp. He's a good all-round footballer and I think he will learn from today."
Gopperth was one of five new faces in the Newcastle team. Considering that there are 16 new men at Kingston Park, – and an awful lot of familiar ones gone – Bates was remarkably conservative in his selection. The last time Newcastle played here Wilkinson was fit and playing alongside the likes of Tom May, Jamie Noon, Mathew Tait and Toby Flood, who have all departed – all of whom have fled as Newcastle's wage bill has tumbled. Wilkinson – currently kicking Toulon to second place in the Top 14 and enjoying life on the Cote d'Azur – dodged through the snow to score a try, but Leeds took their only home win over Newcastle.
Yesterday, however, it was Newcastle's beefed up pack rather than their talented backs who provided the early threat, twice winning penalties on Leeds lineouts and winning another when they made a mess of the home side's scrum under the Leeds posts. That was the only kick of the three that Gopperth managed to land.
Wilkinson, or May for that matter, were rarely that generous and Gopperth immediately learned the error of his ways when Leeds finally got out of their own half – it took 18 minutes – and their new kicker, Ceiron Thomas, levelled the scores at the second attempt after the referee ignored a head-high tackle but spotted an offside in midfield. Fourth and fifth kicks sailed wide either side of half-time before Gopperth found the target twice. However,Thomas kept pegging away and the New Zealander's embarrassment would have been complete had the former Scarlets fly-half not missed a couple of his own.
In short it was a nervous, scruffy performance by both sides and Leeds's director of rugby, Andy Key, like the head coach Neil Back a former Leicester man, looked happy when he said: "We'll take the two points. Now I'm more convinced than ever that we'll stay up."
Leeds, relegated twice in the past three years, are effectively playing for a bonus of £1m - Premier Rugby has promised full shareholder status and with it an equal hand-out - if they survive this season. They handed debuts to six of their new signings and it presumably would have been seven had Seru Rabeni been quicker sorting his one-year contract. So many new faces will take some bedding in, given the club's jump to a higher division, but Alfie To'oala, the back-row wrecking ball bought from Bristol, lit up the latter stages of the game when he came on for Kearnan Myall. So much so that Newcastle looked the more nervous as the game entered its final seven minutes with the scores level, after Thomas had used the left post to coax home his third kick.
There might also have been a severe ticking off for Alex Tait who, with 80 minutes gone, tried to run out of deep defence only to be collared by four Leeds tacklers. He was saved by the referee's patience and the cool boot of Gcobani Bobo. However, that action did mean that Key was justified in his final judgment: "One of the criticisms of old Leeds was that they didn't last 80 minutes. Here today you saw us on the front foot in the last seven minutes."
Whether his players think that is adequate reward for 16 weeks of pre-season preparation, after only three weeks of holiday, remains to be seen.
Leeds Goodridge; Welding, Hepworth, Barrow (H Paul 73), Blackett (Armstrong 61); Thomas, Gomarsall (Mathie 61); Hardy, Ma'asi (Rawlinson 48), McGee (Swainston 53), Murphy, Wentzel (capt), Myall (To'oala 53), Fourie, Oakley (D Paul 67).
Pens Thomas 3 .
Newcastle Tait; Williams (Amesbury 58), Vickerman, Bobo, Biggs; Gopperth, Young; Golding (Ward 78), Vickers (Thompson 67), Hayman, Swinson, Hudson, Balding (Sorenson 63), Wilson, Browne.
Pens Gopperth 3.
Referee JP Doyle (London). Attendance 7,144.
