Newcastle Falcons 14-20 Exeter Chiefs: Visitors fight back to break Newcastle hearts and surge third in Premiership

Exeter were behind for most of the afternoon but substitute Josh Iosefa-Scott's try 11 minutes from time succumbed Newcastle to their seventh straight defeat of the season.

The visitors had the perfect start when Immanuel Feyi-Waboso ran 60 yards to put them in front after 35 seconds, but two tries before the ninth minute from Jamie Blamire and Matias Moroni gave the Falcons a lead they held for most of the game.

The Chiefs dominated play but the stubborn Newcastle defence held them at bay until the 63rd minute when Ben Hammersley set up Henry Slade to score, before Jacques Vermaulen's run to the cusp of the line allowed Iosefa-Scott to power home for the crucial score.

Newcastle remain winless at the foot of the table while Exeter, with their first away win in 13 months, are now up to third in the Premiership.

Seven losses out of seven is hard to argue against, but Newcastle again showed promising signs and two factors they don't lack are commitment and individual flair. Exeter had great territorial advantage, especially in the middle forty minutes of the match but the Falcons' defence, led by skipper Callum Chick, were ferocious in defence and forced numerous multi-phase attacks to break down within spitting distance of their own goal line.

When they do get the opportunity to impress with the ball in hand there are few better sights in the Premiership than Radwan weaving his way through opposition tacklers at a searing pace. That said, going back to last season it is now ten defeats in succession, despite the positives.

Put simply, the Chiefs would not have won without the ubiquitous driving force of the South African flanker. This was summed up best with his run to within touching distance of the line which enabled Iosefa-Scott to put the game beyond Newcastle. Fourteen carries in all for the highly impressive South African.

Newcastle: Penny 6, Radwan 7, Moroni 6, Hutchison 6, Stephens 6, Johnson 6, Elliott 6; Brantingham 6, Blamire 7, Bello 7, Hawkins 6, McDonald 6, Rubiolo 6, Chick 7, Pepper 7.

Subs: Byrne 6, Brocklebank 6, McCallum 6, Van Der Walt 6, Cross 7, O'Sullivan 6, Jennings 6, Brown 6.

Exeter: Wyatt 6, Feyi-Waboso 7, Slade 6, Hawkins 6, Hammersley 7, Skinner 6, Cairns 6; Sio 7, Yeandle 7, Painter 6, Tuima 6, Jenkins 6, Vermeulen 8*, Roots 7, Davis 6.

Subs: Norey 6, Hepburn 6, Iosefa-Scott 7, Pearson 6, Vintcent 6, Townsend 6, Haydon-Wood 7.

1' - TRY FOR EXETER (FEYI-WABOSO): And what a try. You can question the tackling but Feyi-Waboso runs fully 60 metres to score after 35 seconds. He shrugs off Maroni, pushes down Stephens and then races to the line running around Penny for the try.

6' - TRY FOR NEWCASTLE (BLAMIRE): And another fantastic one. This time after an attacking move was set up by Stephens' diagonal run, Rubiolo passes to a rampaging Blamire who moves like a back traversing his way around the last tackler and over the line. The conversion goes over so Newcastle are 7-5 up.

8' - TRY FOR NEWCASTLE (MORONI): Amazing scenes. This time Chick produces a line break then flicks wide to Stephens who chips over the top and Moroni taps to himself and dives over.

63' - TRY FOR EXETE (SLADE): Hammersley was knocked to ground but not held onto and then sliced through the Newcastle defence before passing to Slade who dives over the line.

65' - CONVERSION MISSED! Slade kicks it just wide to the left. Newcastle retain a one-point lead going into the last 15 minutes.

69' - TRY FOR EXETER (IOSEFA-SCOTT): Vermeulen took a great line and charged towards the line and then from a few metres away, Iosefa-Scott proved impossible to stop.

- - -

TNT Sports presents the premium live sports rights previously carried by BT Sport including the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, Gallagher Premiership Rugby, Investec Champions Cup, EPCR Challenge Cup, MotoGP, Cricket, UFC, Boxing and WWE. The streaming home for TNT Sports in the UK is discovery+, where fans can enjoy a subscription that includes TNT Sports, Eurosport and entertainment in one destination. You can also watch TNT Sports through BT, EE, Sky, and Virgin Media