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The Falcons take flight again in Round 2
The Falcons take flight again in Round 2, racking up the miles with successive away games at the start of their latest European campaign. By the time they put their feet up on Sunday they will have covered more than 5,000 miles in the opening two rounds.
The English Premiership side left it until very late in the opening round to pull off a 13-12 win over Bucharest Wolves. Tom Catterick was the hero of the hour as he slotted a 76th minute penalty to secure the slenderest of victories.
Now Dean Richards’ men face a step up in class as they travel to Top 14 side Brive, who won the Heineken Cup in 1996, and who have won all four home games this season, including a 33-0 wipe-out of reigning French champions Castres Olympique in their last game at Stade Municipal.
But despite the quality of their squad, Brive did exactly what Falcons did in Bucharest and blooded a lot of youngsters for their trip to Rugby Calvisano in the opening round. In the end they were lucky to escape with a 20-20 draw.
It means both teams will have to go all out for victory on Saturday – the Falcons to consolidate their position at the top of the Pool and Brive to overtake them. The two teams have met eight times before in Europe, with the Falcons winning five of them.
Match Facts
- These two clubs have met on eight previous occasions in the Amlin Challenge Cup with Newcastle holding a narrow 5-3 advantage.
- Newcastle have won just once in their last six trips to France in the competition (L5 W1)
- Brive have lost just one of their last 11 home games in the Amlin Challenge Cup, a 42-37 defeat at the hands of Munster in 2011.
- Brive’s 20-20 result against Calvisano in the last round was their first drawn match in their tournament history (79 matches).
Mis sous pression par le Connacht qui recevait l'Enisei-STM dans le même temps
Brive came rushing back into contention in Pool 3 after twice coming from behind to beat Newcastle Falcons.
The French side had been rocked in Iatly the previous weekend – where they could draw 20-20 with Calvisano – while the Falcons topped the pool with a narrow win in Bucharest.
But 18 points from centre Thomas Laranjeira were enough to steer the Top 14 outfit above the Flacons and top of the Pool. Former Scotland hooker Scott Lawson powered over just a minute after Brive lost second-row Simon Pinet to a yellow card.
Brive then hit back with ten points in the space of three minutes before half-time, all scored by Thomas Laranjeira. The centre kicking a second penalty and converted his own try to put Brive 13-5 ahead at the break though was off-target with a drop goal early in the second half.
Ryan Shortland made him pay with Newcastle’s second try though Phil Godman was again unable to convert. He finally found his range with a penalty to level the scores at 13-13 on 50 minutes.
The Falcons had their tails up and more pressure saw Fabien Laurent binned and Godman kicked the resulting penalty. That was cancelled out by Laranjeira after Falcons replacement Oliver Tomaszczyk became the third to be shown a yellow card.
Man of the match Venione Voretamaya crossed to clinch the victory just moments after Godman missed a third kick.
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