Red Bull stamp their mark on Kingston Park

Last night saw the dawn of a new era for professional rugby in the north east as Newcastle Red Bulls started their season with a Prem Rugby Cup victory over Harlequins.

A sense of anticipation

Walking the short walk to the ground you could sense the anticipation and also all the indicators from the Red Bull socials and the volume of people that it was going to be a big crowd. Walking into the stadium, the new signage is up and then there were several Red Bull vehicles including a DJ playing out of the top of a Red Bull wagon. Straight away I knew this was different, but I'm all for embracing different and it felt like you were at a big event not just a rugby match.

Pre-match

Into the stadium, I made my way to the South east Terrace where I was able to get a pitch side view. Now to be fair over the last couple of seasons Falcons did improve their match day experience but this was on another level. I've been at Kingston Park when there's been very small crowds and at times it's been soulless, but last night wasn't the case. There was a bit of crowd interaction and I'm sure there's a lot more to come.

The teams came out to fireworks and everything was set for a new era at Kingston Park and then the start was delayed as the Assistant Referee had an issue with his comm's, some officials can't help but make it all about them!

Falcons take the win

Harlequins kicked off and the irony was that Newcastle knocked on from kick off! Quins had a lot of early pressure but they didn't really trouble a robust looking Red Bull defence. George McGuigan scored first for Red Bulls in what proved to be a player of the match performance from the hooker who got really unlucky with a serious injury while at Gloucester. Murray McCallum scored just before half time to give Red Bulls a 14-7. The Quins score in between was from a strong line from Jamie Benson after Red Bulls had defended the initial drive from Quins really well. The Red Bull nation was happy going into half time and the chants of Red Bulls had started from The South Stand.

Harlequins put into the scrum.

The storm sets in

The second half was greeted with torrential rain for most of the half and for those of us not undercover it was a reminder of Kingston Park in the winter. Between the weather and stoppages in the second half the game was hugely impacted. To their credit Red Bulls did continue to throw the ball around but the weather did have an impact on playing conditions. Red Bulls scored a try through Oli Spencer and a belter of a try through Alex Hearle where the offloading game really came into play. The final result was 26-14 in what was a largely comprehensive win for Red Bulls. Quins did keep fighting to their credit and had some injuries in the second half.

Harlequins with a lineout.

Who stood out?

There's been a lot of talk about who's left Newcastle over the summer and the biggest compliment I can give is that the departing players weren't noticeably missed last night. George McGuigan was player of the match and the Red Bull set piece was an improvement on last season.

I really like Tom Gordon in the back row, he's exactly what you want in a back row and hard as nails and I would've had him as close to my player of the match. The front five all did really well but there will be tougher tests to come. Oscar Usher who was playing for Mowden Park for the majority of last season was solid and could be a real find.

The centre partnership was solid, Max Clark again was close to my player of the match as was Alex Hearle at full back who runs really well and took some difficult high balls. I also thought Nathan Greenwood really added off the bench and could cause Prem defences problems if given an opportunity.

Overall

Steve Diamond will be pleased with this one, a first run out and a victory that keeps a real feel good factor going.

I think we'll see a lot more from Red Bull yet off the pitch given the limited time they've had so far in rugby. Maybe we'll see light up posts at Kingston Park! Reading some stuff the bar queues were an issue but I'm sure Red Bull will've learnt a lot from last night and look to improve but the early signs are very encouraging.

One thing for me is the challenge of making sure people are where they're supposed to be in the ground, The South Stand was full but there was space in The North Stand. Likewise when the rain came a lot of people moved from The South East corner to the back of The East Stand and the front of The South Stand, there looked to be a fair exodus from The North Stand too. I know the stadium layout doesn't help, but if you've bought a ticket to stand in the open then that's the risk you take unfortunately!

The positives

The South Stand was probably as loud as I'd heard it last night and it's great to see a feel good factor at Kingston Park. A record crowd for a cup game of just over 9000 could force Red Bull to look at increasing capacity, which wouldn't be a bad thing at all. I know scheduling might not allow this season but on the back of this with a Red Bull marketing push, maybe it is time to re-visit a big game at St James Park!