Honourable Draw: Leeds 9 Newcastle 9

Leeds returned to the Guinness Premiership by welcoming near neighbours Newcastle Falcons to Headingley stadium. Having lost most of their ‘big’ names during the summer, many pundits had the visitors earmarked to be in the relegation dogfight, so for the hosts this seemed to be a good opportunity to get the season off to a winning start.

The Falcons kicked off defending the Carnegie Stand end, and for the first few minutes monopolised possession and had Leeds on the back foot. The visitors’ big pack shunted Leeds about, and when Leeds lost their first lineout, it appeared the hosts could be in for a torrid afternoon.

It took only 6 minutes for fly half Jimmy Gopperth to convert a penalty to give his side the lead. Indeed had Gopperth brought his kicking boots, the hosts could have been 12 points behind within 10 minutes.

On 16 minutes the referee realised he had two arms and pointed the other one in Leeds favour, but from 35 yards, Thomas pulled his kick from the front of the posts wide. However 5 minutes later he did convert a penalty and Leeds had done well to weather the early storm and were, by now attempting to play some attractive rugby.

The rest of the half was scrappy with both sides making errors, and both kickers missing the opportunity to give their side an interval lead.

The second half developed into a forward dominated battle, with few chances for the backs to show their skills. Gopperth and Thomas exchanged penalties again, but the nearest thing to a try came when a long looping pass sent old boy Rob Vickerman away, and he fed another old boy, Tom Biggs on a clear run to the line. However Mr. Doyle stayed rooted to the spot in the centre of the field and indicated a forward pass before the ball had reached Vickerman.

Gopperth appeared to have won the game for the Falcons 14 minutes from the end when he converted his most difficult kick of the afternoon from the South Stand touchline, but with just 7 minutes remaining, Leeds gained a penalty some 40 metres form the posts, and after a convenient injury for the Newcastle number 8 delayed the kick for a few minutes, Thomas held his nerve and struck the ball beautifully against the far upright about 6 feet above the crossbar. From there the ball took the path of least resistance and dropped behind the bar. The flags were up, the sides were level again, and that was the scoring completed.

It was a scrappy, error strewn affair, and in all honesty, neither side looked as if they will challenge for any honours, but apart from a couple of mistakes, Leeds weathered an early storm, and were undoubtedly the stronger team at the end.

Neither side looked likely to threaten the white wash, but again, Leeds ran the ball whenever possible. Gomersall moved the ball quickly, as did Scott Mathie when he came on, but Leeds lack penetration in the centre of the field, something which hopefully, Fa’afili and Rabeni will address.

I thought Leeds defended well, and I was very impressed with Marco Wentzel’s leadership. Rhys Oakley played well, and all of the replacements made an impact, none more than Danny Paul who made good ground whenever he had the ball. Hendrie Fourie took the sponsors Man of the Match award, for another outstanding display, and I think he would have had my vote as well.