Sleightholme and Furbank return but Saints are beaten by Newcastle

Furbank played the first 33 minutes and Sleightholme the first half as Saints moved into a 14-5 lead by the break.

But with the game time of both England men needing to be managed and what appeared to be a muscle injury to Anthony Belleau just before half-time, Saints had to field a hugely makeshift backline after the interval.

That allowed Newcastle to use their experience against a youthful home team, with the Red Bulls roaring back to win at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens.

It meant Saints' unbeaten start to the season came to an end, but they could take positives from their performance and the return of Furbank and Sleightholme.

Newcastle were always going to provide a stern test, having named a squad that possessed plenty of top-level experience.

Saints were forced to do some defending in their own 22 early on, but twice they did it well, winning a couple of scrum penalties to help them relieve the pressure.

Furbank showed his class in the 14th minute as first he gathered a high ball under pressure, and soon after he placed a lovely clearance kick into touch on the edge of the Newcastle 22.

Sleightholme's return to action didn't start in as comfortable fashion as he was put under pressure by a tricky kick ahead and had to knock on inside his own 22.

The Red Bulls were desperate to make something of the opportunity, having bossed possession and territory in the opening 20 minutes of the match.

Chunya Munga was making a mess of the Newcastle lineout, getting up well to win a couple of them, but eventually the Red Bulls got their reward for their dominance as on-loan Ulster centre Stewart Moore flew over for a try on his debut.

Brett Connon missed the conversion and Saints needed a spark from somewhere to help them get a foothold in the game.

Eventually, the black, green and gold got the chance to attack after winning a penalty just inside the Newcastle half.

Anthony Belleau found a fine touch, giving his side great field position to launch a surge, and they did just that, producing a move that resulted in Furbank finding Sleightholme wide on the right for an extremely popular score.

Belleau notched the conversion in fine fashion from the touchline as Furbank headed off in what was a pre-planned change.

Amena Caqusau was the man to replace Furbank, and the wing made an immediate impact, producing a fine finish as he stepped on the gas to score on the left after a nice nudge from Sleightholme.

Belleau again converted brilliantly, putting his team 14-5 up in the process as clinical Saints made the most of their two trips to the Red Bulls 22.

Saints suffered a blow just seconds before the break though as Belleau was forced off with what appeared to be a muscle injury.

Tom Litchfield came on for Saints, prompting some reorganisation as the hosts then made four changes at the break, with Tom James among them, replacing Sleightholme.

There was plenty of huff and puff at the start of the second period but Saints did really well to not only hold out against Newcastle but push them back outside of the home 22.

The black, green and gold got the ball back and went flying forward, with Sonny Tonga'uiha bringing roars from the crowd as he produced a couple of mountainous carries.

Saints were starting to get on the front foot, but they were hit with a sucker punch on 53 minutes as Moore intercepted a pass from James and just managed to get away from James Pater, who did all he could to try to get back.

Connon converted to cut the Saints lead to two points and Newcastle were soon in front as Cameron Hutchison scored after Toby Thame had done well to initially stop Harrison Obatoyinbo on the right.

Connon failed to add the extras to leave Saints 17-14 down, but Newcastle stretched their lead as Freddie Lockwood stretched his legs to score after being released by an inside pass close to halfway.

The conversion was notched in tidy fashion by Connon as his side moved 10 points in front with little more than 15 minutes remaining.

Newcastle scored a fine try soon after as Connon's crossfield kick was pouched and Moore was released to complete his hat-trick on debut.

Connon converted and Red Bulls were racing away at 31-14 up, with Sam Graham coming on to replace Fyn Brown, who had been struggling with an injury.

Saints did their best to summon a late response to get some second-half points on the board, but Newcastle held firm against a venture into the 22, prompting cheers of encouragement from the away bench.

Red Bulls were soon back on the attack, but Saints did well to hold them up over the line with a minute remaining, and the game eventually reached a quiet conclusion.

Saints: 15 George Furbank (Amena Caqusau 33); 14 Ollie Sleightholme (Tom James 40), 13 Henry Lumley, 12 Toby Thame, 11 James Pater; 10 Anthony Belleau (Tom Litchfield 39), 9 Jonny Weimann; 1 Tom West (Oliver Scola 40), 2 Henry Walker (Marco Manfredi 40), 3 Sonny Tonga’uiha (Luke Green 57); 4 Ed Prowse (Aiden Ainsworth-Cave 40), 5 James Bennett; 6 Chunya Munga (c), 7 Archie Benson, 8 Fyn Brown (Sam Graham 68).

Newcastle Red Bulls: 15 Ethan Grayson; 14 Harrison Obatoyinbo (Sam Waugh 72), 13 Stewart Moore, 12 Cameron Hutchison (Max Clark 68), 11 Alex Hearle; 10 Brett Connon, 9 Sam Stuart (James Elliott 54); 1 Murray McCallum (Adam Brocklebank 47), 2 George McGuigan (c) (Hame Faiva 54), 3 Richard Palframan (Luan de Bruin 54); 4 Oscar Usher, 5 Jamie Hodgson; 6 Cameron Neild (Adam Scott 68), 7 Ollie Leatherbarrow (Tom Gordon 47), 8 Freddie Lockwood.

Referee: Jamie Parr