Forgotten England speedsters send timely reminder to Steve Borthwick as Leicester dominate Newcastle despite Michael Cheika ban

Planet Rugby
Anthony Watson in action for Leicester Tigers v Newcastle Falcons in the Premiership in 2024.

Anthony Watson in action for Leicester Tigers v Newcastle Falcons in the Premiership in 2024.

Leicester Tigers overcame Newcastle Falcons and Michael Cheika’s ban to emerge 42-10 triumphant at Kingston Park on Saturday.

The Tigers head coach was suspended for this match after an argument with an independent match day doctor around Ollie Chessum’s head injury in their victory over Exeter Chiefs in Round One.

That did not affect his charges, however, as Leicester absolutely dominated the Falcons throughout in this Premiership clash.

Cheika’s men went into the break 20-3 ahead with England duo Anthony Watson and Ollie Hassell-Collins among the try-scorers. Neither were named in Steve Borthwick’s squad on Friday but they were both in fine form in the North East as the Tigers eased to victory.

Youngster Emeka Ilione followed those wings across the whitewash before Freddie Steward, George Martin, Will Wand and Hanro Liebenberg all touched down in the second period.

Click here for teams and scorers

The game was tied early on thanks to penalties from Jamie Shillcock and Ethan Grayson.

The Tigers slowly began to build pressure and despite some solid defending from the Falcons on their own tryline, a quick switch saw Shillcock offload to Hassell-Collins on the left flank to cross in the corner before the former added the extras.

Spurred on by their opening try, Leicester struck again five minutes later when another great pass from Shillcock played Watson in on the right for the wing to charge into space and touch down in the corner.

Shillcock missed the conversion before Newcastle burst into action with some good work to build the phases in midfield, but they struggled to gain any ground and after opting to kick a penalty, Grayson’s attempt whistled just wide of the uprights.

Leicester added their third try on the cusp of half-time after Ilione bundled the ball over the line on the left to earn his first Premiership try, but Shillcock was unable to extend their lead from the tee.

The restart was then delayed due to a medical incident involving a fan during a half-time race down the pitch between supporters.

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Leicester quickly picked up where they left off just three minutes into the second half when a quick pass from Joseph Woodward allowed Steward to crash over the line and earn the bonus point.

The visitors were suddenly down to 13 players after Watson was shown a yellow card and he was shortly joined by Liebenberg following a clash of heads with Kiran McDonald, who was replaced by Pedro Rubiolo.

Newcastle took advantage and after some pressure on the try-line, Callum Chick eventually broke through to score their first try of the game on his 150th appearance for the club before Grayson converted.

The Falcons then had Jamie Blamire sent to the sin-bin for a high tackle and Leicester quickly extended their lead when George Martin powered over the line in the right corner, with Shillcock converting for a 32-10 lead.

Newcastle’s afternoon soured further when a loose pass was easily intercepted by Wand and he burst forward to ground in the corner before the Tigers added their seventh try through Liebenberg.

The teams

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Ben Redshaw, 13 Connor Doherty, 12 Sammy Arnold, 11 Ben Stevenson, 10 Ethan Grayson, 9 Sam Stuart, 8 Callum Chick (c), 7 Tom Gordon, 6 Philip van der Walt, 5 Kiran McDonald, 4 John Hawkins, 3 Richard Palframan, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Adam Brocklebank
Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Luan de Bruin, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 Pedro Rubiolo, 20 Freddie Lockwood, 21 Joe Davis, 22 Oli Spencer, 23 Louis Brown

Leicester Tigers: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Izaia Perese, 12 Joseph Woodward, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Jamie Shillcock, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 Kyle Hatherell, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 5 Ollie Chessum (c), 4 George Martin, 3 Will Hurd, 2 Charlie Clare, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Archie Vanes, 17 James Cronin, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Harry Wells, 20 Emeka Ilione, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Ben Volavola, 23 Will Wand

Referee: Jack Makepeace
Assistant Referees: Adam Leal, Peter Allan
TMO: Hamish Smales

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