Newcastle Red Bulls lose to Saracens in sold out Kingston Park

Newcastle’s first match under Red Bull ownership ended in defeat as Saracens beat the newly renamed Newcastle Red Bulls 39-17 on Friday at a sold-out Kingston Park. The Gallagher Premiership opener featured a raucous crowd of 10,210 — the club’s first sellout since 2018 — and marked the Red Bull era’s high-profile debut off the field, but also underlined how much work remains on it.

Saracens built control after an early scare. Alex Hearle raced in for a Newcastle try inside the opening two minutes, but visiting flanker Nathan Michelow was shown the Premiership’s first-ever 20-minute red card for a tip tackle on captain George McGuigan, leaving Saracens temporarily down to 14 men. The visitors recovered, however, and led 15-10 at halftime thanks to tries from Brandon Jackson and Andy Onyeama-Christie and accurate kicking from Owen Farrell, who started at inside centre and contributed 12 points.

The second half belonged to Saracens, who crossed through Nick Tompkins twice and England age-grade prospect Noah Caluori on his debut to secure a bonus-point victory. Freddie Clarke’s late score for Newcastle offered consolation in front of an energized home crowd. The final try and...