Weekend rugby review: Further trouble for Newcastle and London Welsh as Bath impress with huge win

What is in a pitch? Quite a lot according to Northampton director of rugby, Jim Mallinder, who was asked for his view of Newcastle’s new 3G artificial-surface. “It’s great, it has made a massive difference. We came here last year and it was a mudbath, really smelly. This is a complete change. It suited us.”

Have Newcastle shot themselves in the foot by laying down a surface that everyone loves? Opposition teams used to dread heading to the chill north-east outpost where the wind comes howling down across Kingston Park. Yet when you saw the scenes after the match, with dads and kids playing impromptu games, you saw the wider benefit. That is certainly how Newcastle see it, as a community asset and good luck to them on that front.

Even the old mudbath would not have helped them against a Northampton side eager to get the defence of their title back on track. They were terrific for 30 minutes, ordinary for the next 40, only stirring themselves for a final thrust in quest of the bonus point. They got it with a late score from George North, their fourth try of the afternoon after tries from Will Hooley, Alex Waller and Ken Pisi. 20-year-old Hooley looks to be another promising young talent.

Newcastle have to keep battling on even though this was their 19th successive defeat in the Premiership, a terrible state of affairs that stretches back almost a year. There is a sense of a club here though, some shape and grit eventually out on the field. They were far too passive in the early stages, almost in awe of their opponents. They deserved their try, though, from Noah Cato. The second half saw the scores tied at 7-7. What might have been if they had stirred earlier? Already their match against London Welsh in Round 6 on October 11 has a season-defining air about it. Mick Cleary

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PLAYER OF THE WEEKEND

Dave Attwood, Bath
Attwood could not have put in a more impressive, destructive performance in front of watching England forwards coach Graham Rowntree, making 15 tackles and claiming four line-outs in a stunning display.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It’s looking bleak for newly-promoted London Welsh. They have conceded 151 points in losing three games so far, the latest on Saturday at Sale, 46-8.

An improvement in fitness and resolve is needed quickly. They face fragile Gloucester, who have shipped 105 points so far, on Friday in a televised home game.

After a trip to Harlequins (Sat Oct 4), the Exiles finish the first tranche of Premiership games at home to Newcastle. That match, against the other team expected to be relegation contenders, will be a must win for a squad thrown together last June following the play-off win against Bristol to gain promotion.

There is huge sympathy for Welsh’s limited preparation time, but they also need more from their main men led by ex-New Zealand scrum-half Piri Weepu and ex-Bath fly-half Olly Barkley.

At one stage Welsh had fought back to be only 18-8 down against Sale, but a tame last 20 minutes handed a bonus-point win on a plate to Sale. At least they avoided one unwanted record. By losing only 46-9, they did not match Bedford who were the last Premiership team to concede 50 points in three successive matches. Rob Wildman

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

VILLAIN OF THE WEEKEND

Richard Cockerill, Leicester
Leicester may have a lengthy injury list but losing 45-0 at one of your fiercest rivals is unacceptable. Training this week will be brutal.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just how good are Bath then? It was the question everyone was asking after their 45-0 demolition of Leicester. Yes, the visitors had injury problems, but there was something mightily impressive about Bath's performance, as they mixed set-piece dominance with speed of thought and pass outside.

Individuals' stock will surely only rise if they carry on like this, and one I would offer for possible England recognition is wing Semesa Rokoduguni. Anthony Watson is very well regarded too, but it is his Bath colleague who is stating the strongest case at the moment. Steve James

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

STAT OF THE WEEKEND

27
London Welsh missed 27 tackles in their 46-8 defeat by Sale.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Most visitors to Castle Grim, or Kingsholm as Gloucester’s ground is better known, can expect a hostile reception but the Shed Heads could not have been more welcoming to six members of England’s World Cup-winning side on Friday.

Sarah Hunter, Lydia Thompson, Danielle Waterman, Natasha Hunt, Laura Keates and Ceri Large paraded their winners’ medals during the half-time interval and were overcome by the warmth of the ovation.

The players posed for selfies with fans and themselves, stopped at regular intervals to sign autographs and were given another rousing ovation when they belatedly took their seats in the main stand a couple of minutes into the second half.

The Shed even sang ‘Swing Low Sweet Chariot’ which made a nice change from the usual “You don’t know what you’re doing.” Paul Bolton

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TRY OF THE WEEKEND

Kyle Eastmond, Bath
Bath's superiority over Leicester was epitomised by their third try, which began under their own posts and ended with Eastmond taking advantage of good work by Jonathan Joseph to twist and score.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

While the main focus of the backrow contest between Harlequins and Wasps at the The Stoop was on the openside battle between Chris Robshaw and James Haskell, the performance of Wasps No 8 Nathan Hughes is unlikely to have gone unnoticed by the England management team.

Hughes is currently not qualified to play for England, but the 23-year-old Fiji-born forward will do so in 2016 and has already said he is considering declaring for the red rose side.

Fiji and Samoa, for whom he also qualifies, may yet secure his services before next year's World Cup but if he opts to hold on and serve out his residency qualification for England, it would further bolster the national side's already over-flowing back row options.

For Hughes, whose father is part-Samoa and part-Fijian, is already a tremendous prospect. His ball carrying, off-loading skills and footballing ability are likely to ensure it is not long before his services on the international stage are in high demands. Gavin Mairs

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND

We’re making some elementary errors – it’s where we’ve been all year, to be honest. We’ve just got to try and eradicate them.
Sale director of rugby Steve Diamond after six-try win

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MEANWHILE, OVER IN FRANCE...

Toulon returned to winning ways with a 53-13 victory at Brive on Friday night, a result which coincided with the return of Matt Giteau to fly-half for Bernard Laporte's side. Giteau replaced Frédéric Michalak at outside half after he picked up an injury in last week's defeat to Stade Francais as the reigning champions ran in eight tries on their return to winning ways.

The retirement of Jonny Wilkinson opened the door ​for both Michalak and Giteau to try and fill his boots and from the outset, Laporte promised to give everybody a chance to stake their claim for a starting berth. But having been overshadowed by his Australian teammate in the early part of the season, there is a distinct sense that Michalak is raging against the dying of the light.

In the three matches he has started at outside half for the European champions this season, Toulon have lost twice, scoring only three tries in the process. By contrast, Giteau has started in three victories during which Toulon have crossed 19 times. Even allowing for varying standards of opposition, the statistics don't make pretty reading for Michalak and a year out from the World Cup, the 31-year-old's injury in last week's defeat has seen him miss Philippe Saint-André's provisional squad for the Autumn internationals.

France host Fiji, Australia and Argentina in November and Saint-André's squad has caused controversy after he left out 12 of the 30 players whose Top 14 appearances are limited with one eye on next year's World Cup. While some players like Michalak are absent through injury, a number of fit players such as Morgan Parra have also been left out, meaning that, to the obvious annoyance of their clubs​, their Top 14 appearances are restricted despite the lack of any international commitments. Daniel Matthews