Newcastle: Obatoyimbo; Radwan, Doherty, Arnold, Stevenson; Connon, Stuart; Brocklebank, Blamire, Palframan, Hawkins, McDonald, Lockwood, Gordon, Chick.Replacements: Fletcher, de Bruin, McCallum, Scott, Leatherbarrow, Brown, Redshaw. Bristol: Malins; Naulago, Janse van Rensburg, Williams, Ibitoye; MacGinty, Randall; Genge, Oghre, Lahiff, Dun, Batley, Luatua, Heenan, Harding. Replacements: Capon, Woolmore, Kloska, Caulfield, B Grondona, Marmion, Davies, Jenkins, Lane. Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe

They started well, Schoeman blasting over and new boy Ross Thompson making it 7-0 with the boot. And then, old failings appeared.Leinster's attack was slick when putting Tommy O'Brien away up the left, but the home defence wasn't exactly rapid in response. It was positively comatose when young centre Charlie Tector scored not long after.Ali Price's clearing kick from his…

Bath avenged their Premiership final defeat by Northampton Saints with a thumping five-try bonus point victory in a lively opening game of the new season at The Rec.Johann van Graan's team pushed clear of Saints in an impressive first half, scoring three tries through Joe Cokanasiga, Ted Hill and Ben Spencer, only countered by Josh Kemeny's score for Northampton.In a…

To overcome these issues, Welsh rugby bosses are going to come up with an overall strategy everybody will adhere to and help lift the game out of the doldrums.That is the theory.WRU chief executive Abi Tierney started her new role in January and has kept a low public profile this year.Tierney has undergone a significant cost-cutting exercise at the organisation…