Falcons take late flight to beat Bath

Newcastle rallied in the second half to beat Bath 27-16 at the Rec yesterday and bag their first Guinness Premiership victory of the season. Tries from Matt Carraro and Michael Claassens put the home team 13-7 up, with Jimmy Gopperth converting Charlie Amesbury's score for the Falcons. But James Hudson, Micky Young and New Zealander Gopperth, who converted one of the three tries and added a penalty, ran in tries to earn Newcastle the win.

Northampton survived a late charge from Sale to emerge 21-16 victors with tries from Bruce Relhana and Ben Foden. Shane Geraghty had a conversion and a penalty along with Stephen Myler. Sale were down 15-3 at half time. Harlequins also kept their nose ahead against Worcester, winning 26-22 with tries from Danny Care and Mike Brown. Both Rory Clegg and Nick Evans had a conversion and two penalties to their name for the winners respectively. London Irish prevailed over Leicester 18-12.

Meanwhile, Richie Myler touched down twice as England came from behind to beat France 34-12 in an unconvincing start to rugby league's Four Nations on Friday. Tries from Vincent Duport and Kane Bentley put France 12-4 ahead at half time and the visitors were on course for a first win over England in more than 27 years. "I was not concerned," the England coach Tony Smith said. "We were a bit anxious and put a bit of pressure on one another."

The teenage scrum-half Myler got in two quick tries after the break. Kevin Sinfield, Ryan Hall and Tom Briscoe also got on the scoresheet, adding to an earlier try from Lee Smith in the 12th minute. "We just had to settle down and build some pressure on the French," Smith said. "We knew if we did that they would struggle. This is a new team, and it takes a little bit of time to get the combinations - and that showed tonight."

* Agencies