Moment in Time: Newcastle and the 2001 Tetley’s Bitter Cup final

Sensational game, sensational finish. Widely considered to be one of the best cup finals of all time, two star-studded teams went at it from first whistle to last and it was Newcastle Falcons who prevailed, leaving a desperately disappointed Harlequins side to reflect on the vagaries of fate following a controversial chain of events that led to the Falcons’ winning try.
With 83 minutes on the clock and Quins hanging on grimly to a three-point lead, Newcastle prop Ian Peel appeared to have been ushered safely into touch. Quins throw? Not according to touch judge Steve Lander, who awarded a Falcons lineout from which Rob Andrew’s men fashioned a last-gasp attack that led to full-back Dave Walder scoring in the corner. A young Jonny Wilkinson converted and it was game over, leaving Quins complaining long and hard into the night.
“I was staggered at the time and I’m still fairly staggered now,” Quins chief executive and acting head coach, Mark Evans, said afterwards. “You have a raging sense of injustice when you lose a game like that.” Paul Burke, the Harlequins fly-half, added: “It was a disgrace. The guy took the ball into touch so how could it be their lineout? We certainly deserved to win.”
None of this detracted from what was a magnificent display of club rugby, one that makes older supporters yearn for the days when the old RFU Senior Cup really meant something and when supporters from all over the country would flock to the capital for the annual denouement at Twickenham. By comparison the current watered down version, otherwise known as the LV= Cup, does not cut the mustard. Quite where things went wrong is a mystery of the age.
No matter, this particular game was a celebration of all that was good back then, particularly for Newcastle whose eclectic mix of experienced stars and exuberant, home-reared youth prevailed on a day when both sides decided to fling the ball around with attacking intent.
“It was strange really,” Rob Devonshire, Newcastle’s then-21-year-old flanker, recalls. “We had a really young backline, with guys like Jonny Wilkinson, Dave Walder, Jamie Noon, Tom May and Michael Stephenson, and then you had the experienced guys in Inga Tuigamala, Gary Armstrong, Doddie Weir and Ross Nesdale. I was about the only youngster in the pack and I’d been picked ahead of the more experienced Richard Arnold, which was a bit of a shock at the time.
“I’d have been happy just to have been involved but I was full of confidence and remember being very excited before the match. It was a big game for Newcastle and the one thing that struck me about Twickenham that day was the noise. I wasn’t a nervous person but there was just this wall of sound and it was difficult to hear moves being called. It was all a bit of a blur.”
May went over early for Newcastle and would later add a second try, but after 70 minutes of a nip-and-tuck affair it was Quins who led 27-18 courtesy of tries from skipper David Wilson and Burke, who had also been accurate with the boot. It looked to be all over, but a try from No.8 Jim Jenner brought the Falcons back into the game and set up that controversial finish.
Replacement lock Hugh Vyvyan recalls: “I remember us getting lucky with the lineout call but we still had a lot to do. I’d replaced Doddie Weir, which seemed to be the norm at the time, and it was my call at the lineout. We threw to the back, which I’d been a bit nervous about doing, but it came off beautifully. Luckily we had some good backs and the rest, as they say, is history.
“It was a very enjoyable game, one of my first cup successes, and those were the days when the cup was still a big day out at Twickenham. The memories of that final are always good, though, because I’d been involved with Newcastle when we lost the final to Wasps a couple of years previously. Those games were really big affairs… was it really 11 years ago? Wow!!”
WHERE ARE THEY NOW: THE CLASS OF 2001
1. Micky Ward: Retired in 2011 and is now scrum coach at Falcons. Also coaches Blaydon.
2. Ross Nesdale: Retired that summer and worked with New Zealand before returning to Newcastle as forwards coach in 2004. Left in 2006 and is now marketing manager for Power Farming in NZ.
3. Marius Hurter: Returned to South Africa in 2004 where he played for the Cats and Lions before retiring. Has coached SA U19s and the Bulls, as well as working as a sports and labour attorney.
4. Stuart Grimes: Joined Borders in 2006 but returned to Newcastle as forwards coach in 2008. Left again in 2010 and now works as a land buyer for Persimmon Homes in Newcastle.
5. Doddie Weir: Joined Borders in 2002 and retired in 2004. Now a director for Hutchinson, a water waste management company, as well as being a well respected sports speaker.
6. Rob Devonshire: Left Newcastle in 2003 and went to Ireland, where he played for Ballynahinch and Belfast Harlequins. Now plays for Hull RFC and works locally as an account manager.
7. Andrew Mower: Retired through injury in 2004 and began work in the City. Is now an equity/sales trader for Christopher Street Capital.
8. Jim Jenner: Joined Worcester that summer, then played for Pertemps Bees (twice) and Stourbridge. Now runs Kinderkare Day Nurseries as well as a house building company.
9. Gary Armstrong: Joined Borders in 2002 and retired in 2004. Now works for Alexander Inglis, a grain storage company, which is run by former Scotland captain Jim Aitken.
10. Jonny Wilkinson: England’s 2003 World Cup-winning fly-half left Newcastle in 2009 and joined Toulon, where he is still going strong at the age of 33.
11. Inga Tuigamala: Retired in 2002 and returned to New Zealand, where he now runs a funeral parlour, Tuigamala and Sons of Glendene, in Auckland.
12. Tom May: Joined Toulon in 2009 but returned to England in 2011 and now plays for Northampton.
13. Jamie Noon: Joined Brive in 2009 and has never looked back.
14. Michael Stephenson: Joined Bath in 2005 where he played for five years before heading back up north to Leeds in 2010. Recently took over as player-coach at Percy Park RFC.
15. Dave Walder: Joined Wasps in 2006 but now plays his rugby in Japan after signing for the Mitsubishi Dynaboars in 2011.
Replacements
Ian Peel (for Ward, 48): Retired through injury in 2005 and coached at Newcastle until 2009. Now works for the RFU’s U18s academy as well being forwards coach at Tynedale.
Hugh Vyvyan (for Weir, 49): Joined Saracens in 2004 and recently called it a day after an illustrious career. Now works in the City as an insurance broker for Ellis Clowes.
Richard Arnold (for Devonshire, 57): Retired in 2004 and went into coaching, becoming DoR at Northumbria University in 2008. Rejoined Falcons as academy manager in 2010 but left in September 2011. Current whereabouts unknown.
HARLEQUINS TEAM: O’Neill; Greenstock, Greenwood, Burrows, Daniel (Gollings, 67); Burke, Powell; Leonard, Wood, Dawson (Starr, 65), Morgan (Codling, 78), White-Cooper, Sanderson, Wilson (Jenkins, 62), Winters