Anglo-Welsh Cup Round-up: The return of Jonny Wilkinson in an impressive 34-9 win over Sale Sharks at Kingston Park made for a good day's work for Newcastle at Kingston Park yesterday.
Wilkinson came off the bench after 54 minutes and made an immediate impact, sending Matthew Burke over for a try and controlling the game with his varied kicking.
With 20-year old outhalf Toby Flood and 19-year old winger Mathew Tait also turning in eye-catching performances, there was good reason for the small Kingston Park crowd to go home full of optimism.
Burke and Hall Charlton both went over for two tries, but it was the youngsters Tait and Flood who impressed most against an understrength Sharks outfit.
London Irish could not hide their disappointment after they destroyed the Wasps lineout only to have victory snatched from their grasp in their opening Group B game.
"It's a measure of how far we have come since last season that the boys are devastated down in the changing room," said Bob Casey, captain in the absence of the injured Mike Catt, following the 30-26 home defeat.
"We played the European champions today, and we should have won that game.
"But there's a lot of encouragement to be taken, especially the lineout contesting, which was excellent. Nick Kennedy was superb," said Casey, as he paid tribute to his secondrow partner.
Brian Smith, the Exiles' director of rugby, praised teenage centre Shane Geraghty, who scored his side's first try and provided the defence-splitting pass for the second from 20-year-old debutant winger Topsy Ojo.
Smith described the England under-19 player as "a class act".
Smith was also delighted with the debut of New Zealander Rikki Flutey, who kicked six goals from six attempts to finish with 16 points after being drafted into the starting line-up when Barry Everitt aggravated an ankle injury in the pre-match warm-up.
Llanelli Scarlets started their campaign with a convincing 28-7 victory against a struggling Leeds Tykes side. Wing Tal Selley, centre Matthew J Watkins and prop Iestyn Thomas all crossed the try line for the visitors, while outhalf Gareth Bowen contributed 13 points from the boot.
On Saturday Gloucester beat Ospreys 23-7, Bath overcame Bristol 25-10, Cardiff saw off Saracens 37-20 - picking up a four-try bonus point in the process - and Ben Cohen grabbed two tries in helping Northampton to a 22-7 victory over Worcester.
