Newcastle Falcons through to Singha 7s finals
They will now join Northampton Saints, Harlequins, Exeter Chiefs, Wasps, Cardiff Blues, Ospreys and Sale Sharks in the finals at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena on Sunday August 7, having come through a group consisting of Leicester Tigers, Sale Sharks and Worcester Warriors.
Newcastle were made to work in their opener against Sale, trailing 12-0 at half-time but going on to win 31-12 after five well-taken tries. The first of those arrived with the opening play of the second half when Joel Hodgson marked his Newcastle return with an 80-metre try, wriggling out of a tackle and sprinting the length.
Harrison Orr scored with his first touch of the ball after coming on at half-time, the Aussie acquisition bulldozing his way to the line after a huge fend. Tom Catterick added a third when his midfield dummy opened up a hole, Dan Marshall and skipper Dan Temm ensuring maximum points with late touchdowns.
It was close but no cigar in the second game when a nail-biter of a finish saw the home side beaten 24-21 by Worcester, who had a Josh Adams hat-trick and a well-taken score from Ted Hill to their name.
The Falcons had scored with the very first play when Catterick caught the kick-off and sped home, but they had to wait until the final two minutes for their other tries as Marshall and Adam Radwan both showed serious gas to claim a losing bonus point.
Newcastle entered their last game with Leicester knowing that a bonus-point victory was required to top the group, and they managed a 26-17 triumph despite going an early try down.
Hodgson was the first of the Falcons’ four try-scorers with a sublime dummy-scissor in the right corner, Marshall keeping up his record of scoring in every game after being fed by Ruaridh Dawson. Skipper Temm charged over for the third before Hodgson capitalised on Orr’s break to add the decisive bonus point.
Tickets for the Singha 7s finals at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena on Sunday August 7 are priced just £10 for adults and £5 for under-18s. To book [**click here**][1]
**Newcastle Falcons squad for Singha 7s:**
1 Dan Temm (captain)
2 Santiago Socino
3 Glen Young
4 Max Davies
5 Harrison Orr
6 Adam Radwan
7 Dan Marshall
8 Tom Catterick
9 Ruaridh Dawson
10 Joel Hodgson
11 Ben Stevenson
12 Tom Ffitch
**Leicester Tigers:**
1 Sam Lewis
2 Harry Mahoney
3 Charlton Kerr
4 Harry Simmons
5 Ben White (captain)
6 Sam Yawayawa
7 Jordan Olowofela
8 Freddie Tuilagi
9 Tommy Reffell
10 Tom Hardwick
11 Ollie Russell
12 Andy Brown
**Sale Sharks:**
1 Tom Curry
2 Ben Curry
3 Matt Postlethwaite
4 Andy Hughes
5 George Nott
6 James Mitchell (captain)
7 Curtis Langdon
8 Sam Bedlow
9 Paolo Odogwu
10 Nick Scott
11 Tom Morton
12 Charlie Venables
**Worcester Warriors:**
1 Tom Dodd
2 Jaike Carter
3 Sam Ripper-Smith
4 Huw Taylor (captain)
5 Ted Hill
6 Ben Fowles
7 Josh Adams
8 Tiff Eden
9 Harry Cochrane
10 Dion King
11 Jordan Ainslie
12 Craig Jackson
**Results:**
Newcastle Falcons 31 Sale Sharks 12
Leicester Tigers 26 Worcester Warriors 24
Leicester Tigers 7 Sale Sharks 55
Newcastle Falcons 21 Worcester Warriors 24
Sale Sharks 31 Worcester Warriors 0
Newcastle Falcons 26 Leicester Tigers 17
**Referees:**
Matt Turvey
Ben Blain
Hamish Smales
**Assistant referees:**
Adam Leal
James Clarke
Jamie Leahy
Callum Sharp
Anthony Woodthorpe
Veryan Boscawen
**Attendance:** 3,825
[1]: https://www.eticketing.co.uk/wasps/details/event.aspx?itemref=1771