Newcastle Red Bulls recorded their first league victory of the season against Sale Sharks with a score of 17-3. It was only Newcastle's fifth triumph in four seasons of the Premiership.
The key moment of the match was Christian Wade's try in the right corner nine minutes into the second half. With that attempt, Wade equalled Chris Ashton's record for the most tries scored in the Premiership, reaching his 101st try.
Before Wade's try, the only points for the visitors were scored by George Ford with a penalty. Brett Connon then kicked a penalty towards the corner rather than the posts from 40 metres, after which Josh Hodge added extra points for a Newcastle lead of 7-3. Hodge then extended the lead to 10-3 after Sale was penalised again.
Just after the hour mark, George McGuigan scored a try from a maul. Hodge then converted a low kick for the final 17-3 with 12 minutes remaining in the match. Matthew Carley refereed the game.
Newcastle coach Dan McFarland stated that he was excited about his team's performance. He also highlighted that wins are very difficult to achieve in this league. Regarding Wade, he said he is a high-energy player who knows how to find the try line.
Harlequins remained the only team yet to win in the Premiership this season after this round.
