23rd August 2005
Issued on behalf of Newcastle Falcons
Newcastle Falcons suffered a five-point defeat to Japanese championship runners-up Toyota Verblitz in Toyota City near Nagoya on Tuesday, as the Japanese hosts ran out 29-24 victors.

In an entertaining and physical see-saw game it finished three tries apiece, as the Falcons ended their ten-day tour with one win from their two games following a 73-6 demolition of champions NEC on Saturday in Tokyo.
 
The evening match took place in hot conditions and approximately 100 per cent humidity, with the roof of the ultra hi-tech Toyota stadium being closed due to the torrential rain which had been forecast as Japan braces for the typhoon expected to hit the country on Thursday.
 
A vocal home crowd showed its support by bashing inflatable plastic sticks together to create a noisy atmosphere, while Mathew Tait started proceedings with an early foray down the left wing. England Under-21 fly half Toby Flood kicked intelligently to the corners when caught in traffic, while England centre Jamie Noon straightened up well in midfield to break the defensive line in the opening exchanges.
 
Tait almost opened the scoring four minutes in when he hacked ahead from an Ed Williamson offload, but the bounce of the ball just eluded the 19-year-old on the 22.
 
Japan Test fly half Keiji Hirose kicked for territory on a number of occasions as his side fought to get in to the Newcastle half, with Falcons wingers Tait and debutant James Hoyle getting early chances to launch counter attacks. New Zealand Sevens star Orene Ai'i knocked on from a Matthew Burke clearance punt as errors continued to cost the Verblitz dear, although Ai'i did attone for his mistake with a typically robust broken field break moments later, forcing Flood to track back well and make the vital intervention.
 
Flood then smashed opposite number Hirose with a man-and-ball hit in midfield, although continual knock-ons from both sides with the wet ball due to the humidity saw much fluency lost. On the stroke of 13 minutes the deadlock was finally broken with a set piece move as a scrum on half way saw centre Mark Mayerhofler execute a cross field kick to Tait on the left wing. Tait lept high on the 22 to take the catch, before stepping inside two men for the score, Flood converting.
 
Burke cleared his lines well as Toyota finally found some impetus with an attack down the left, while Flood continued to pin them back with punishing punts in to the heart of the 22. The hosts pegged Newcastle's lead back to four with a Hirose penalty from 30 metres in front of the uprights following an infringement at the ruck from Mike McCarthy.
 
Moments later Hirose then struck his second penalty, this time from further out and to the right, after a retreating Robbie Morris was harshly blown for offside. Toyota attacked through centre Hideki Namba before a bout of fisticuffs erupted at the ruck, and from the resulting penalty Hirose stroked over a third as his men assumed a two-point advantage on the half hour.
 
But it did not last long as a huge Garryowen from Flood and a marvellous chase from Williamson yielded a penalty for the Englishmen in front of the posts, which Flood nudged over to retake the lead. Mayerhofler cleared assuredly under pressure in his own 22, and from the counter attack Hoyle produced a try-saving tackle to bundle his opposite number in to touch.
 
Toyota, however, finally got the try they had desperately craved one minute before the interval when Fijian wing Sekove Leawere went over in the left corner following an offload which may well have drifted forward - Hirose missing with the conversion attempt.
 
But deep in to first half injury time a close range line out produced the Falcons' second try when the ball was grubbered ahead and Noon burst through to ground it under the posts - Flood converting for a 17-14 half time lead.
 
Joe Shaw entered the fray for the second half in what was his comeback following a long term ankle injury, while Toyota lock Troy Flavell was replaced at the interval after a typically abrasive display. There was better continuity as Newcastle started the second period utilising their pick-and-go game, but from a counter attack on half way it was Toyota who took the lead when Ai'i played in Leawere down the right wing on a two-on-one, Hirose missing the conversion from wide out.
 
With the match much more open Toyota almost scored a wonder try when Ai'i wove a way through the defence, but the subsequent scoring pass out of the tackle to replacement Jyunji Hiratsuka went marginally forward. The Falcons defence was given a good workout as Verblitz found some rhythm and attempted numerous wide backs moves, with superb tracking back from Tait preventing a further try after Hirose broke the line and got to within five metres.
 
Stuart Grimes and Phil Dowson entered the fray for Luke Gross and Colin Charvis respectively, but moments later the hosts extended their lead to five points when Ai'i stroked home a drop goal.
 
Noon covered back well to hack a Leawere punt in to touch despite the attentions of the onrushing Verblitz attack, as Newcastle tried to regain some composure under a barrage of running from the Japanese. Their patience paid off when Noon battered through for a clean line break and drew the last man to put in Mayerhofler for a clinical score under the posts - Flood's conversion putting the north easterners back in front.
 
Within two minutes a chip-and-chase from Ai'i saw him round Shaw for the sixth try of an increasingly entertaining game, Hirose making no mistake with the extras. Newcastle upped the pace with quick taps in search of points. Flood broke the line well, offloading to Noon, but at high pace the scoring pass just would not stick.
 
Flood hooked a penalty attempt wide from just outside the 22 as his side found themselves camped in the Toyota half and exerting real pressure. 
 
Tait broke down the left after great sidestepping from Flood saw three tacklers beaten, although a big hit on Flood from the very same play saw the fly half stretchered from the field with a calf problem as Mark Wilkinson came on with two minutes left to play. It was again Tait who almost stole a winner deep in to stoppage time when great vision from Wilkinson saw a cross field kick land in his arms, the retreating defence only just managing to frantically scrag him metres short.
 
The full time whistle came seconds later, as the Falcons fell just short of victory in a highly competitive encounter.
 
Toyota Verblitz:
Tries: Leawere 2, Ai'i
Cons: Hirose
Pens: Hirose 3
Drops: Ai'i
 
Newcastle Falcons:
Tries: Tait, Noon, Mayerhofler
Cons: Flood 3
Pens: Flood
 
Toyota Verblitz:
 15 Orene Ai'i
14 Kosuke Endo
13 Genta Akanuma
12 Hideki Namba
11 Sekove Leawere
10 Keiji Hirose
9 Ippei Asada
1 Shinji Nakano
2 Katsuyuki Takayama
3 Masahiko Toyoyama
4 Troy Flavell
5 Toshizumi Kitagawa (captain)
6 Takashi Kikutani
7 Masatoshi Endo
8 Filo Tiatia
 
Replacements:
16 Yasuhiko Iwama
17 Kenichi Takayanagi
18 Jyunji Hiratsuka
19 Hirosi Sugawara
20 Takeshi Yamamoto
21 Hiroki Mizuno
22 Tatsuya Kusumi
 
Newcastle Falcons:
15 Matthew Burke (Joe Shaw, 50)
14 James Hoyle
13 Jamie Noon
12 Mark Mayerhofler
11 Mathew Tait
10 Toby Flood (Mark Wilkinson, 78)
9 James Grindal (Lee Dickson, 71)
1 Micky Ward (David Wilson, 60)
2 Matt Thompson (Andy Long, 67)
3 Robbie Morris
4 Luke Gross (Stuart Grimes, 52)
5 Andy Perry
6 Mike McCarthy
7 Ed Williamson
8 Colin Charvis (captain, Phil Dowson, 52)
 
Replacements:
16 David Wilson
17 Andy Long
18 Stuart Grimes
19 Mark Wilkinson
20 Joe Shaw
21 Phil Dowson
22 Lee Dickson
 
Attendance: 15,266