Taine turns tide

Newcastle 20 Saracens 25

Saracens gave the Zurich Premiership immediate notice yesterday that one man's journey from Dunedin to Watford has rid them of their stigma as the softest touch in the English game.

Taine Randell, resurfacing on Tyneside after New Zealand dumped him on their World Cup scrapheap, applied enough All Black nous to guide his new club through their first storm of the season.

He also gave long-suffering owner Nigel Wray renewed hope that he will get more for his investment than a third successive relegation campaign.

Sarries, who had suffered 10 straight away defeats at an average of more than 40 points a time, were on the verge of another collapse after squandering a 17-point interval lead during 10 calamitous minutes early in the second half.

It looked to be another sorry case of a new regime stumbling into the same old story.

Newcastle, suddenly reprieved at 20-20 after a dressing-down for the shoddiest of first halves, went for the kill only to find that Sarries had not made the six-hour journey to Kingston Park for nothing.

They are made of sterner stuff these days and nobody personified the quality better than Randell, the New Zealander achieving in 80 minutes something which had proved beyond every Sarries team post-professionalism.

Just as his new team were in danger of being swept away, Randell began turning the tide with a save which would have been the envy of any decent goalkeeper. Dave Walder's measured drop kick from close- range would have nudged Newcastle ahead had a diving Randell not charged it down with both hands.

Sarries' new resistance was still being stretched to the limit when their No. 8 found himself confronted by another dangerous scenario as Newcastle retrieved a mishit clearance from Thomas Castaignede before unleashing Epi Taione.

What happened next left no doubt that, at 28, Randell is still young enough to make a major impact. New Zealand's captain at Twickenham barely nine months ago and playing for the first time since leading the Maoris against England in New Plymouth in June, he stopped the Tongan in his tracks and seized possession.

Ben Johnston flicked the ball to the unmarked wing outside him and Richard Haughton shot along an empty touchline to score from some 40 yards. Despite Andy Goode missing the conversion, the match had been won.

Under Simon Raiwalui's captaincy, Sarries found the will to survive, holding out for their first away win since Bristol this time last year.

Randell's contribution sent them home convinced that New Zealand have done them a favour in making their recent captain surplus to requirements.

New coach Rod Kafer said: 'We are very lucky to have a world-class player who is in the prime of his career. He's a great signing for the club and the second half showed how much character the squad has got, something for which they have been criticised in the past. That was a real tribute to their fortitude. Good sides win close matches.'

Some convincing will be needed on that point, all the more so given Newcastle's failure. Losing was bad enough. That they did not concede one penalty throughout a heavily one-sided second half and yet still lost is a damning indictment of their elementary mistakes.

Saracens will not care about that. Raiwalui gives their pack what they have lacked in recent seasons, another ball-carrying lock alongside Kris Chesney, whose stealing of a re- start paved the way for the opening try, delivered on his Premiership debut by Paul Bailey, a 21-year-old student summoned at short notice after Kevin Sorrell failed a fitness test.

Raiwalui's burst set up Goode's drop goal, followed by a penalty try when Newcastle's floundering defenders had prevented Sarries taking a quick throw. They should have been made to pay a heavier price, referee Steve Lander allowing Joe Shaw to escape when the Newcastle full back ought to have been binned for flattening Goode.

Tries from scrum half James Grindal and flanker Warren Britz, backed up by four goals from Dave Walder, pulled Newcastle level only for Randell to have the last word.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in