Newcastle Red Bulls team to face Lions

Christian Wade will make his Newcastle Red Bulls debut on Saturday when the prolific winger lines up at home to South African visitors, the Lions.

Back in rugby union after a spell with Wigan Warriors, Wade is nine tries away from breaking the Gallagher PREM’s all-time scoring record but makes his Newcastle bow in EPCR Challenge Cup action.

The Red Bulls are aiming to build on their winning start to the competition after last weekend’s victory away to Lyon, with Wade one of seven personnel changes from the 24-13 triumph.

Cameron Hutchison and Elliott Obatoyinbo are the other additions to a back line which sees Ethan Grayson shifting one place to fly-half, with Ollie Fletcher and Richard Palframan coming into the front row.

Tom Christie captains the team from the open-side flank after scoring in a man-of-the-match performance last time out – lock Finn Baker and back-rower Ollie Leatherbarrow the other additions for Saturday’s 5.30pm kick-off.

Head coach Alan Dickens said: “It’s starting to come together for us, and I was pleased by a lot of what I saw last weekend.

“Even when we had a player sent to the sin bin we didn’t concede a single point or a single penalty during that period, which has been a big work-on for us. I thought the lads stuck together really well and didn’t allow Lyon a losing bonus point at the end, but it’s only one game and we’re not going overboard.

“The pleasing thing is that we’re starting to see on a match day a lot more of the things we’ve been working on in training during the week. Getting back-to-back wins would represent further progress for us, but we’re taking nothing for granted.”

On the prospect of unleashing Wade back into English rugby union, Dickens said: “Christian has been with us for a couple of weeks now and has got a really infectious personality.

“He’s already the life and soul of the place, he’s working hard every day in training and he is someone who has always looked after himself from a physical preparation standpoint.

“He’s a potent finisher with plenty of gas out wide, and we’re looking forward to seeing the impact he can make for us on the field.”

Up against a Lions team who were beaten at home by Benetton last weekend, Dickens said: “The South African sides bring a new dimension to the competition, and it’s a great challenge for us.

“You tend to associate South African rugby with physicality and big set-piece focus, but the Lions are a team who also like to offload and play with plenty of attacking ambition. It will be an interesting test for us, but we’re looking forward to it.”

Newcastle Red Bulls team v Lions (Saturday, 5.30pm, Kingston Park, live on Premier Sports Rugby Channel)

15 Boeta Chamberlain, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Alex Hearle, 12 Cameron Hutchison, 11 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 10 Ethan Grayson, 9 Sam Stuart; 1 Adam Brocklebank, 2 Ollie Fletcher, 3 Richard Palframan, 4 Oscar Usher, 5 Finn Baker, 6 Tom Gordon, 7 Tom Christie (captain), 8 Ollie Leatherbarrow.

Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Micky Rewcastle, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 Jamie Hodgson, 20 Amanaki Mafi, 21 James Elliott, 22 Brett Connon, 23 Harrison Obatoyinbo.

Not available for selection: Sammy Arnold, Rhys Beeckmans, Simón Benítez Cruz, Eduardo Bello, Max Clark, Freddie Clarke, Joe Davis, Luan de Bruin, Connor Doherty, Hame Faiva, Joel Grayson, Callum Hancock, John Hawkins, Elvis Kitenge-Fuki, Fergus Lee-Warner, Freddie Lockwood.