Newcastle Falcons go in to the Guinness Premiership season firmly on the front foot, after a convincing 37-10 victory over French big-spenders Racing Metro in Lille on Sunday.

Outscoring their opponents four tries to one, despite taking set pieces instead of a host of kickable penalties, Newcastle were made to battle right from the off as a freak try saw Racing Metro take the early lead.

With fly half Jonathan Wisniewski's penalty attempt thudding off the left hand upright, the oval ball lived up to its unpredictable billing by falling perfectly in to the grateful arms of left wing Mani Vakaola for a try inside three minutes.

Wisniewski converted as a stunned Newcastle side quickly got on the counter attack, fly half Rory Clegg and fullback Steve Jones both kicking the corners intelligently on the back of rock solid scrum ball.

Jones's boot got the scoreboard rolling for the Falcons with a 12th-minute penalty, but the visitors opted for set-piece practice on occasion as referee Eric Gauzins awarded them a string of penalties in the Racing 22 due to incessant forward pressure.

Skipper Phil Dowson and scrum half James Grindal pressured former Stade Francais No.9 Jerome Fillol at the base, forcing a number of mistakes, while England centre Jamie Noon and midfield partner Spencer Davey both made headway over the gain line on the back of Clegg's well-weighted passes.

Tom May scurried back well to save a try from a Racing hack-through, while new signing Adam Balding probed the fringes aggressively to suck in the back row defence.

A second Jones penalty on the half hour reduced the gap to just one point as the Frenchmen struggled to cope with the ruck pressure, but there was almost a repeat of Racing Metro's freak try just moments later as a secind Wisniewski penalty again struck the same post only for Brent Wilson to narrowly beat Vakaola to the bouncing ball.

A deserved half-time lead was assured for the Falcons just five minutes before the break through incessant forward pressure, with a close range line out in the right corner being worked infield. Fly half Clegg was just inches short of his maiden Newcastle try after a ghostly show-and-go, but captain Dowson was on hand to pick-and-go for the five points from the resulting ruck as Jones's conversion saw the tourists in to a 13-10 interval lead.

Despite Racing Metro ringing the changes at half-time there was no let-up in the quality of opposition as international stars Andrew Mehrtens, Sireli Bobo, Carlo Festuccia and Craig Smith entered the equation, but the Falcons signalled their intent early on as Davey again broke the defensive line.

With fullback Jones replaced by Alex Tait kicking duties fell to the 18-year-old Clegg, but he made no mistake with his first attempt as a penalty on the right hand side saw Newcastle go six clear just before the hour mark.

Turning the screw in the final quarter a ruthless Falcons side drained three tries, the first coming from Kiwi flanker Brent Wilson as he supported a Dowson break and accepted a sublime scoring pass from industrious scrum half James Grindal to score in the left corner.

Clegg made easy work of the touchline conversion for a 13-point lead, and with the Falcons in full flow the third try was not long in coming as Tom May's perfectly-timed inside run saw the winger duly rewarded for an energetic 80 minutes with a try under the posts.

Clegg's simple conversion nudged Newcastle 20 to the good, but with Racing Metro showing no signs of giving up there was still plenty of defensive work to be done as Alex Tait smashed Fijian star Sireli Bobo in to touch.

With the clock ticking down there was time for just one more score as replacement flanker Tim Swinson grabbed his second try in as many matches, showing fine support play and power to collect a ball 15 metres out before maintaining his composure to score despite an attempted high tackle.

Clegg's straightforward conversion drew the final whistle from referee Eric Gauzins, as a vocal away following cheered Newcastle on to a stylish and convincing victory going in to the new Guinness Premiership season.

Racing Metro:

Tries: Vakaola
Cons: Wisniewski
Pens: Wisniewski

Newcastle Falcons:

Tries: Dowson, B Wilson, May, Swinson
Cons: Jones, Clegg 3
Pens: Jones 2, Clegg

Racing Metro:

15 Brent Ward
14 Sefulu Gaugau
13 Chavency
12 Ludovic Valbon
11 Mani Vakaola
10 Jonathan Wisniewski
9 Jerome Fillol

1 Mikaele Tuugahala
2 Olivier Diomande
3 Mickael Coetzee
4 Matthew Jolly
5 Simon Raiwalui (captain)
6 Johnny Leo'o
7 Alvaro Gallindo
8 Chkhaidze

Replacements:

Carlo Festuccia, Patrice Collazo, Craig Smith, Hehea, Francois van der Merwe, Ashley Clarke, Jone Qovu, Nic Berry, Andrew Mehrtens, Julian Vulakoro, Fabrice Dicka, Auvergnas, Sireli Bobo, Greg Goosen, Ben Russell, Mehdi Merabet, Pepers.

Newcastle Falcons:

15 Steve Jones
14 Tom May
13 Jamie Noon
12 Spencer Davey
11 John Rudd
10 Rory Clegg
9 James Grindal

1 Joe McDonnell
2 Andy Long
3 Carl Hayman
4 Andy Buist
5 Mark Sorenson
6 Adam Balding
7 Brent Wilson
8 Phil Dowson (captain)

Replacements:

Rob Vickers, Matt Thompson, Micky Ward, Jon Golding, Geoff Parling, Tim Swinson, Hall Charlton, Tom Dillon, Alex Tait, Ollie Phillips.

Referee: Eric Gauzins
Attendance: 5,000.

---