Wade equals Ashton's try record as Newcastle edge Sale 17-3 at Kingston Park

Christian Wade equalled Chris Ashton’s all-time Premiership try-scoring record on Friday night as Newcastle defeated Sale 17-3 at Kingston Park, with Ashton himself watching from the stands.

Wade, who has now scored six tries this season, crossed on the right flank in the 49th minute to bring up his 101st top-flight score and match the record set by the former Northampton, Saracens, Sale, Leicester and England winger. Captain George McGuigan added the crucial second try from close range on the opposite flank to seal the result.

Head coach Dan McFarland was effusive about his winger’s achievement and confident there is more to come. “Christian is a high-energy player,” McFarland said. “He knows how to find the try line as all good wingers do. He’ll get there. He’s a tremendous guy and he deserves it.”

The win was Newcastle’s first in the Gallagher Premiership this season, following away defeats at Northampton and Exeter and a narrow home loss to Leicester. McFarland acknowledged the relief of finally getting off the mark. “We’re very satisfied to have won tonight, but disappointed we’d not won before this,” he said. “We pulled out two really good tries and our defence was excellent, really resilient.”

The victory was built on a strong second-half display. Newcastle had trailed by three points at half-time despite playing with a gale-force wind at their backs, but full-back Josh Hodge contributed seven points after the break to help the Red Bulls pull clear in difficult blustery conditions.

The result was all the more notable given the scale of change at the club. Newcastle have brought in 25 new signings over the summer, with a 26th — Canadian forward Mason Flesch — arriving during the week.

Sale, who had averaged 29 points per game in all competitions heading into the match, were held to a single George Ford penalty and missed the chance to move temporarily second in the table. Director of rugby Alex Sanderson was blunt in his assessment. “What we did with the ball was the most frustrating, annoying and baffling aspects of tonight’s performance,” he said. “We weren’t able to win it or keep it and we could not convert anything when we did get into the right areas. The errors we made weren’t even forced — they were unforced errors. We are massively disappointed, and that’s not to take any credit away from Newcastle. They were very good with their tactics and they outworked us.”