Jonny Wilkinson may have successfully undergone surgery on his injured left knee yesterday but Newcastle remain in urgent need of treatment for travel sickness. They have yet to taste success on the road this year and were well beaten by what was virtually the second string of the weakest of Wales's four regions.
Newport Gwent Dragons' fears that the dislocated kneecap suffered by Wilkinson on Tuesday would have an impact on the attendance were realised, although the England fly-half would not have played anyway because he was due a rest under the elite player agreement.
"The operation went well and Jonny is buoyant," said the Falcons' director of rugby, Steve Bates. "We will know exactly how successful it has been when Jonny is assessed in six weeks, but it was a reasonably severe injury and he will probably be out of action for between three and four months."
How they need their talisman. The Dragons fielded only five regulars and conceded a welter of early penalties but Newcastle too often lost the ball in contact. The hosts' first try was a graphic example: the Dragons plundered the ball on their own 10-yard line on 21 minutes and the fly-half kicked speculatively into the Newcastle 25. The Falcons wing Danny Williams gathered the ball but, chased by the Dragons No10 Jason Tovey, ran towards his own line where he was stripped of the ball for Marc Stcherbina to give his side a 10-point lead.
The Dragons' trump appeared 14 minutes into the second half. The veteran flanker Colin Charvis, a former Newcastle captain, set up their second try when he waded into a maul, wrestled the ball off two opponents and fed the replacement scrum-half Tom Isaacs, who outpaced two defenders on a 30-yard run to the line.
Newcastle had fought their way into the game when the home flanker Jamie Ringer was taking 10 minutes off because of reckless play. The Dragons struggled to defend two five-yard scrums and conceded a penalty try after a second collapse at the end of the first half, and three minutes after the restart the wing Ollie Phillips scored after chipping on the halfway line and profiting from a series of errors.
The Dragons sealed victory seven minutes from the end, though, when Newcastle yet again coughed up possession at the breakdown, the lock Adam Jones picked up and Tovey found the left touchline deserted. Their last six road trips have cost Newcastle 243 points and 33 tries. At least, by his standards, Wilkinson's absence will not be excessively long.
Newport Gwent Dragons Dollman; Wyatt, Gomer-Davies (Connor, 46), Stcherbina (capt), Selley; Tovey, Lewis (Isaacs, h-t); Gustafson (Black, 19), S Jones (Burns, 80), Lott (Murphy, h-t), A Jones (Brown, 80), Hall, Lydiate (Charvis, 53), Ringer, Evans
Tries Stcherbina, Isaacs, Tovey. Cons Tovey 2. Pens Tovey 2
Sin-bin Ringer, 29
Newcastle Jones; Williams, Dillon, Davey (Visser, 57), Phillips; Clegg, Young; Golding, Vickers (Long, 57), Ward, Swinson, Tomes, Beattie (Perry, 63), Welch (Williamson, 60), Winter
Tries penalty, Phillips. Cons Clegg 2
Referee R Debney (Leiceistershire)
Attendance 4,684
