The England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson emerged unscathed from this tough Premiership encounter, which will delight the national head coach Clive Woodward, but it was the Irish No10 Barry Everitt who earned the plaudits yesterday.
Everitt was last season's leading league scorer and he gave Newcastle a lesson in why. With an immaculate kicking display that included two drop goals and six penalties he posted all his side's scores to secure only the second win of the Exiles' season and their first on the road. It lifts them out of the bottom two in the table.
Everitt even managed to deny the Falcons the consolation of a bonus point when he landed a penalty seven minutes into extra time. It rounded off an unhappy afternoon for the home side.
Rob Andrew, Newcastle's director of rugby, described the game as "an untidy scrap that turned into a penalty shoot out". He praised the Irish defence but also said his side made too many mistakes, admitting "it was a poor defeat for us at home".
Conor O'Shea, the Exiles' director of rugby, was understandably delighted, saying: "The confidence in the side has been low but it is gradually coming back and Barry Everitt kept the scoreboard ticking over. He is controlling the game like the Barry of old."
The Falcons started with Wilkinson at centre, not as part of a deal with the England management to assess his value there, but to give understudy Phil Godman his chance with the master outside him for confidence. With Wilkinson on international duty for the next three weeks Godman is soon going to be on his own.
However, the Falcons' defeat cannot be laid at Godman's door and he did not play badly. Even so, in the 55th minute he was taken off and Wilkinson was back in his old role. But despite his best efforts, the resolute Irish defence held out.
The home side scored the only try of the game after 20 minutes. Two early penalties for Everitt provided a wake-up call for the Falcons, who were rewarded for sustained pressure when Jamie Noon scored in the corner. Thereafter, in a stop-start game it was the kickers who took centre stage. Wilkinson landed 11 points but it was not enough to compete with Everitt.
O'Shea identified a high penalty count, particularly around the tackle area, for preventing momentum in the game. He admitted his side were as much sinners as sinned against but believed the RFU needs to look at how officials interpret the laws, saying the referee Robin Goodliffe had a reputation for being over officious.
The game could have gone either way. After 80 minutes the Exiles led by just two points, but that was before Everitt landed a drop-goal and then a penalty with the last kick of the game.
The only downside for Irish was that their player-coach Brendan Venter could face disciplinary action after an alleged high tackle on Jon Dunbar. Venter, sent off in Toulouse last month, appeared to use his forearm in a clash with the Falcons' back-row, who needed treatment afterwards.
"Everyone knows who it was and that he led with his forearm, and it's the third week running it's happened, but we can't cite a player. That's up to the citing commissioner to look at the video and make a decision," Andrew said.
Newcastle: Noon; Taione, May, Wilkinson (capt), Stephenson; Godman (Botham, 55), Charlton (Grindal, 30); Peel (Ward, h-t), Brotherstone (Makin, 49), Hurter (Peel, 65), Hamilton, Grimes, Dunbar, Arnold, Vyvyan.
Try: Noon. Con: Wilkinson. Pens: Wilkinson 3.
London Irish: Horak; Sackey, Burrows, Venter, Bishop; Everitt, Edwards; Worsley (Hatley, 45), Drotske, Halford, Strudwick (capt), Kennedy, Gustard, Dawson, Sheasby.
Pens: Everitt 6. Drop goals: Everitt 2.
Attendance: 4,515.
Referee: R Goodliffe (Yorkshire).
