Warriors Lead Rugby Consultant Steve Diamond said the players owed the supporters an apology for a performance that he described as “inexcusable.”
Newcastle, without a league win since November, returned home with only their second bonus point win of the season against a Warriors side that looked surprisingly lethargic.
A three-week lay-off for the majority of the players, most of whom were recovering from the effects of COVID or a respiratory infection, may go a little way to explaining the lacklustre showing that but Diamond was having none of it in his blunt assessment.
Having failed to turn pressure into points before the break, Warriors were given a lesson in finishing by Newcastle who were clinical whenever they got a sniff of the line.
Newcastle’s six tries were evenly divided between the halves while fly-half Brett Connon had a 100 per cent record off the kicking tee as he landed six conversions and a penalty to go with a try in a 20 points haul.
Warriors responded with a try from Perry Humphreys after a long period of pressure in the first-half and another from captain Ted Hill in the second but those were among the few occasions when Newcastle’s defence was tested.
To add to Warriors’ woe, full-back Noah Heward departed in the second minute after he suffered a head injury in a clash of heads.
Heward was taken off on a stretcher but he was able to take his place on the replacements’ bench after he had failed a head injury assessment.
Heward’s injury meant an earlier than anticipated appearance for Humphreys who played the full 80 minutes in Wednesday’s Premiership Cup win at Bath.
The only Warriors player who will have cause to remember this match with any fondness was lock Justin Clegg who made his 50th appearance when he came off the bench after 54 minutes by which time Newcastle were coasting home.
Missed tackles proved costly for Warriors before the break and Newcastle capitalised with George McGuigan, Connon and Adam Radwan all scoring after Humphreys had dotted down.
Radwan’s try right at the end of the half meant Warriors were 16 points rather than nine adrift at the break and left them with a stiff task in the second half.
Connon’s penalty five minutes into the second-half and the bonus point try from Louis Schreuder after Warriors had coughed up possession sealed the issue and tighthead prop Trevor Davison added another before Hill went over from close range ten minutes from time.
Hill’s score briefly raised the prospect of a try bonus point, but passes went astray and it was Newcastle who finished the scoring when hooker Jamie Blamire went over from the final play of the match and Connon, predictably, converted.
Warriors | 15 Noah Heward (Humphreys 1), 14 Alex Hearle, 13 Oli Morris, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Fin Smith (Searle 51), 9 Gareth Simpson (Chudley 65), 1 Rory Sutherland (Waller 54), 2 Niall Annett (Miller 65), 3 Christian Judge (McCallum 54), 4 Joe Batley, 5 Graham Kitchener (Clegg 54), 6 Kyle Hatherell (Forsythe 75), 7 Ted Hill (C), 8 Sione Vailanu.
Replacements | 16 Isaac Miller, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 Justin Clegg, 20 Jack Forsythe, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Billy Searle, 23 Perry Humphreys.
Timeline
5m | McGuigan try 0-5
6m | Connon con 0-7
22m | Humphreys try 5-7
32m | Connon try 5-12
33m | Connon con 5-14
40m | Radwan try 5-19
40m | Connon con 5-21
45m | Connon pen 5-24
52m | Schreuder try 5-29
53m | Connon con 5-31
66m | Davison try 5-36
67m | Connon con 5-38
70m | Hill try 10-38
79m | Blamire try 10-43
80m | Connon con 10-45