London Irish survived a late Falcons fightback to clinch a thrilling European Challenge Cup semi-final victory at Kingston Park on Sunday.
London Irish – in their first European final – will play Gloucester at the Twickenham Stoop on Sunday, May 21.

The Exiles led 27-3 midway through the second half, but three quick tries gave the home fans hope of a miracle comeback. The margin was reduced to five points with four minutes left on the clock, but the Falcons’ lineout – which had let them down all afternoon – again proved their Achilles heel.

The Newcastle pack rumbled over the Exiles’ try-line in the last second of the match, but television referee Clayton Thomas ruled that the ball had been held up.

London Irish dominated the first half, scoring two tries to take a healthy 15-3 lead into the break. The Falcons’ Matt Burke opened the scoring with a penalty goal, but Exiles hooker Robbie Russell and winger Topsy Ojo finished off multi-phase moves to dominate the scoreboard.

Falcons director of rugby Rob Andrew tried to spark a comeback by sending on hooker Matt Thompson and fly-half Jonny Wilkinson after only 33 minutes. It looked to have worked as Newcastle dominated the final minutes of the opening half, but winger Tom May butchered what looked like a certain try by trying to cut inside the defence, instead of going for the corner.

Both sides had try-scoring opportunities in the early exchanges of the second half, but fundamental errors on the opposition try-line had both sets of coaching staff throwing their hands in the air.

The lineouts were a lottery, with the Falcons losing four of their first eight throws, and the match was over as a contest when a Wilkinson turnover resulted in a 60-metre run-in for Samoan winger Sailosi Tagicakibau. The extras were added by fly-half Riki Flutey and London Irish had one foot in the Cup final.

Just to make sure, Argentinian centre Gonzalo Tiesi powered his way over for the Exiles’ fourth try, before flanker Ben Woods’ score in the corner gave the home fans something to cheer about.

The Exiles lost backrower Declan Danaher to the sin-bin in the final 10 minutes, and May’s blindside raid narrowed the scoreline to 27-15 to give London Irish fans a few nervous moments.

Falcons centre Mathew Tait scored the home side’s third try in eight minutes, but London Irish dug deep to keep out the last-ditch Falcons attack on their line.