Tom Collins' hat trick sinks Newcastle who look set to face the drop
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Newcastle Falcons’ second-half comeback was not as Northampton Saints survived the onslaught and held out for a bonus point victory at Kingston Park.
The Falcons trailed 24-3 after a nightmare first half for the relegation threatened side as Tom Collins ran in a hat-trick.
What. A. Forty. #Machine
— Ultimate Rugby (@ultimaterugby) April 26, 2019
0️⃣3️⃣ Tries
0️⃣2️⃣ Clean Breaks
0️⃣5️⃣ Defenders Beaten
1️⃣4️⃣2️⃣ Metres Gained#TheCollinseum 🏟 pic.twitter.com/N6u8gUu1Xm
Collins orchestrated the opening try as he burst into a gap and followed it up with a superb one-two with Cobus Reinach collecting a back-handed offload to score between the posts.
Dan Biggar extended the gap to seven with a 35-metre penalty from the right-hand side, and slotted his second conversion on 16 minutes after Collins scored his second try, collecting a one handed Taqele Naiyaravoro offload to dot down in the left corner.
A resurgent Newcastle regained their attacking rhythm around the 25-minute mark, and had a try chalked off when Goneva’s scoring pass to Simon Hammersley was ruled forward by the TMO.
Falcons went further behind in the closing minutes of the first half when Reinach’s break and pass down the right freed Collins for his hat-trick try as the Falcons trailed 3-24 at the break.
Newcastle took more direct approach with repeated forward runners with the pressure paying off in 48th minute when Rodney Ah You crashed over. Takulua raced between the posts for a try having collected an offload from George McGuigan, the Tongan converting his own try to reduce the arrears to seven.
Falcons pressured time and time again from their but their Alex Mitchell sealed the result for Saints when he intercepted on halfway for a converted score.
The result sees Saints move into a semi final spot on the overall log while Newcastle remain at the foot of the table with just two games remaining. A Worcester Warriors win this weekend will see Newcastle get relegated.
