SALE director of rugby Steve Diamond was pleased with their second half display but was left to rue yet another poor start.
“In the second half, we controlled the game for 35 minutes but we didn’t control the last five,” Diamond said. “We weren’t at the races in the first 20 minutes and you can’t give top-four sides 25-point starts.
“You’ve got to give credit to Newcastle, they were ruthless in the first 20 minutes and we didn’t know what had hit us.”
Newcastle boss Dean Richards has not been surprised by their outstanding season, ...