Newcastle endured a poor return to the Aviva Premiership on Friday night, failing to score at Kingston Park as they went down 21-0 to Bath.
George Ford was the main threat for the visitors, booting three penalties and a conversion, while Anthony Perenise scored a try from a rolling maul. Ford secured a late penalty and added the extras following a penalty try to wrap up the victory as the visitors struggled to deal with the poor conditions.
After the game, Newcastle director of rugby Dean Richards admitted his side need to be more clinical but said they will learn from their mistakes.
“We got ourselves into the right positions at times but we managed to shoot ourselves in the foot on occasions but it’s something we will take heart from,” Richards said.
“We just need to be a bit more clinical in what we do. The first half we didn’t take our chances and they went in with points up.”
Meanwhile, Bath coach Mike Ford was delighted his team dominated in the forwards and managed to cope with the adverse weather.
There are four Aviva Premiership fixtures scheduled for Saturday, with London Irish taking on Saracens, Gloucester versus Sale, Northampton hosting Exeter and Wasps battling Harlequins.
The big team news is that British and Irish Lions stars Alex Corbisiero and George North will make their debuts for Northampton this afternoon.
Leicester v Worcester on Sunday rounds off the opening weekend’s action.
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