Given the summer exodus of age and experience, Newcastle will be even more dependent on Jonny Wilkinson, newly appointed club captain and the Falcons' most experienced international, on top of his roles of fly-half and goalkicker. Yesterday he rose to the task, slotting eight penalties out of nine to punish Wasps' ill-discipline.
"There is a lot of pressure, but it's a case of having to deal with it," he says. His kicking boot was as steady as ever and Wilkinson's steadying influence guided his side out of early difficulty. Newcastle barely left their own half in the first quarter as Wasps swarmed forward. Their forwards looked rampant, and Alex King enjoyed ample time to marshal his backs thanks to Rob Howley, who was breathing fire on his Premiership debut.
The former Wales scrum-half created both Wasps' tries, nipping through a gap in the 21st minute to send the full-back Josh Lewsey through, and, seven minutes into the second half, working a close-range move with Lawrence Dallaglio from a scrum on the Newcastle 22 to set up Mark Denney on the crash ball.
All the while Newcastle kept in touch, tackling their hearts out, with Wilkinson kicking penalty after penalty, and after a strong first half, Wasps were more rabble than swarm. They lost their heads, infringed repeatedly at the breakdown and created little as Newcastle clung on to possession ever more effectively. They drew a volley of criticism from their head coach Warren Gatland, whose problems were com pounded by a possible broken leg for Lewsey.
"Our discipline was terrible," said the former Ireland coach. "The game should have been over by half-time, but you give a few penalties away, have a bitch at the ref, and it ends with him being happy for them to win ruck ball because you've pissed him off."
In an apparent reference to Dallaglio, who was sin-binned with 12 minutes remaining for killing the ball, he added that "Some of the big-name players were the most guilty suspects."
"It's a pleasing start, given how everyone rates our chances," said the Newcastle director of rugby Rob Andrew, who claimed that his former club had set out to spoil the match.
"They got what they deserved. You have sides who will infringe, and we'll kick the penalties and go home. We don't want to win by eight penalties, but we were self-disciplined."
The quarter century of penalties given away by Wasps - who would normally aim for about 10 per match - was a gift to Wilkinson, who duly put Wasps through the mill. The England fly-half's near-perfect record was in spite of the fact that, so he says, it is not easy to predict the wind here, as the west stand is a mass of bare girders where only Bob the Builder would feel at home. Given his reputation as a perfectionist, he is presumably working on that already.
Newcastle: Botham; Shaw, Noon, May, Stephenson; J Wilkinson (capt), Charlton (Grindal, 54); Peel (Hurter, 76), Brotherstone (Thompson, 75), Hurter (Ward, h-t), Vyvyan, Grimes, Taione, Dowson, Dunbar (Devonshire, 58).
Pens : Wilkinson 8.
Wasps: Lewsey (Rudd, h-t); Roiser, Abbott, Denney, Logan; A King, Howley; Dowd, Greening (Gotting, 69), W Green (Molloy, 68), Shaw, Birkett, Worsley, Volley, Dallaglio (capt).
Tries : Lewsey, Denney. Cons : King 2. Pen: King.
Sin-bin : Dallaglio, 65.
Referee : R Goodliffe.
