Newcastle vs Irish - Friday night

[Puja]

Newcastle: Penny; Carreras, Wacokecoke, Wright, Stevenson, Hodgson, Nordli-Kelemeti; Brocklebank, McGuigan, Davison; Van der Walt, Robinson, Basham, Welch (capt); Chick.

Replacements: Blamire, Cooper, Tampin, Lockwood, Graham, Schreuder, Haydon-Wood, Radwan.

London Irish: Parton; Rowe, Rona, Van Rensburg, Hassell-Collins, Jackson; Phipps; Goodrick-Clarke, Creevy, Hoskins; Simmons, Coleman, Rogerson (capt), Pearson; Tuisue.

Replacements: Cornish, Gigena, 18 Van der Merwe, Mafi, O'Brien, White, Joseph, Arundell.

[Puja]

Good to see Joseph and Arundell still getting time off the bench, although the major thing about that Irish squad is the fact that the BBC article that I've copied from has revealed that they've tried to make it a 40 player squad by have 18 Van der Merwes on the bench. No doubt that's a tactic that Sale will be looking into.

Puja

[Peej]

Looking forward to Pearson getting more of a run

[Scrumhead]

After the confidence boost of 10 tries for Irish in the Challenge Cup and Falcons looking depleted and a bit out of sorts with Richards’ move upstairs etc. Irish could win this quite handsomely I think.

[fivepointer]

Dismal result for Falcons, who were apparently dreadful. There is the nucleus of a decent side but something has got to happen to get them playing better. Walder has got a job on his hands next season.

[Peej]

Looking forward to Pearson getting more of a run

Seems like he played really well, mixing up a lot on both sides of the ball.