The Dragons seemed to have everything in their favour: atrocious weather, home advantage and opponents who had not tasted victory for a month and were having to learn to live without Jonny Wilkinson again, but a rain-soaked afternoon proved that the Celtic League is lagging behind the Zurich Premiership.
The Newport coach Chris Anderson pointed out that, the week before, his side had won at Borders despite playing poorly and contrasted that with the Premiership where an off-day is usually rewarded with a 30-point defeat. The Celtic League, which is in its second full season, was an attempt by Ireland, Wales and Scotland to establish a competitive tournament to rival the Premiership on the playing and commercial fronts, but with the Irish ambivalent from the outset it is failing on both counts.
It was a gloomy opening Heineken Cup weekend for the Welsh whose four regions all lost. The Dragons appeared to have the best chance of a victory, having won their previous five matches, but their attempts to run in the rain doused their fire while the Falcons played rugby to suit the conditions with Wilkinson's replacement, Dave Walder, wasting no opportunity to kick his forwards downfield.
The Dragons are an amalgam of Newport and Ebbw Vale, but the influence of the latter is negligible. The Welsh Rugby Union is refusing to pay the region the going rate for merged sides, offering the same grant as the stand-alone sides Cardiff Blues and Llanelli Scarlets, a £300,000 difference which has seen the Dragons' board refuse to sign an agreement with the governing body, even though it will not receive funds until it does so. If only the rugby in Wales matched the passion of the politics.
There were some reminders of past Anglo-Welsh encounters: the Newcastle second row Luke Gross, formerly of Llanelli, was sent off - and later banned for a month - for using his knee in a fight with his opposite number Ian Gough who saw yellow for merely throwing punches. Meanwhile the Falcons' No8 Phil Dowson and the Dragons' second row Michael Owen were both fortunate that punches they landed went undetected in the downpour.
At the end of the game, the Dragons' No8 Richard Bryan, the recipient of Dowson's punch, and the Newcastle director of rugby Rob Andrew appeared to square up to each other, but both played down the incident afterwards. "Nothing happened," said Bryan, which could serve as a summing-up of his side's afternoon.
The only try came on half-time when the Dragons wing Hal Luscombe, as vulnerable in defence as he was dangerous in attack, threw out an in-field pass on his own line to Kevin Morgan only for the full-back's panicked clearance to be charged down by the flanker Mike McCarthy, who reached the ball just before it rolled out of play.
Newport Gwent Dragons: Morgan; Wyatt, Montgomery, Tuipulotu, Luscombe (Brew 70); Sweeney, Cooper (Baber 80); Snow (Black 57), Jones (Richards 70), Thomas (Anthony 57), Gough (Sidoli 77), Owen, Ringer, Forster (capt), Bryan (Beattie 70).
Pens: Sweeney 2.
Yellow card: Gough 67.
Newcastle: Burke; May, Noon, Tait, Stephenson; Walder, Grindal (Charlton 52); Peel (capt; Hurter h-t, Isaacson 75), Isaacson (Thompson h-t), Ward (Peel 52), Gross, Grimes, McCarthy (Sititi 59), Charvis, Dowson.
Try: McCarthy. Con: Burke. Pen: Burke.
Sent off: Gross 67.
Referee: D Courtney (Ireland)
Attendance: 8,298.
