Goode had an immaculate afternoon with the boot, finishing with 13 successful kicks from 13 and a 28-point tally in this record Leicester victory. He also showed himself to be no slouch as a distributor as Leicester went on a romp that looked unopposed for large chunks of the match so abject was Newcastle’s defence.
To make matters worse for Newcastle coach Rob Andrew, his 19-year-old prodigy, Mathew Tait, endured another miserable afternoon with Ollie Smith, his Leicester rival for the England outside-centre berth, cutting past him to score two tries before being replaced at half-time as a precautionary measure due to a tight hamstring.
Smith looks far too good for England to ignore any longer, although it is sad that it is at Tait’s expense, the youngster showing all the signs of having had his confidence blown to pieces by England coach Andy Robinson’s ill-fated experiment against Wales two weeks ago. Andrew, who savaged Robinson’s treatment of Tait, described the youngster as “stoical” ahead of the match and after this mauling he will need all the stoicism he can muster.
Leicester were home and dry at half-time, but their deadly finishing saw them score seven second-half tries, with the evergreen Neil Back bagging two of them, and gluing their endless attacks together. It was so lopsided that Leicester seemed to score every time the shambolic Newcastle outfit kicked the ball down their throats.
Nothing illustrated the gap in standard more starkly than Geordan Murphy’s try — Leicester’s 10th — the Irish full-back scoring with his first touch within a minute of coming on as a late replacement. He owed it to a feed from a cross-kick fielded by Martin Corry, whose swift return to form after injury, bar one first-half lapse, is good news for England as they head for Dublin.
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Newcastle should be called the great deceivers, because, remarkably, they showed enough commitment and savvy to boss the opening quarter. Although Leicester got off the mark first thanks to a Goode penalty, the Falcons scored their only try after a probing Tait kick resulted in Corry losing control of the ball as he drove from the lineout. Luke Gross snapped it up and Mark Mayerhofler drove low for the line, breaking Goode’s tackle to score. Tom May converted to give Newcastle a 7-3 lead.
But the Falcons rarely stay the course away from home, and their lack of grit was laid bare by a sustained Leicester onslaught which began just before the half-hour, bringing them 21 points in eight minutes. Austin Healey’s astute tactical kicking gave Leicester a launch-pad, and from a 5m scrum a miss-pass by Goode flummoxed the Newcastle midfield — where Mark Wilkinson, Mayerhofler and Tait were all over the place all afternoon — and, fittingly, it was Healey who ghosted through for a soft try.
Goode’s conversion gave Leicester a 10-7 lead and precipitated a scoring burst that tore the heart out of Newcastle. It also compounded Tait’s misery when he was rounded by Smith, the Leicester centre notching his first try by making the most of quick ball after Henry Tuilagi had driven on a lineout. With five minutes of the half remaining, Goode’s long pass to Healey outmanoeuvred the Newcastle defence once more, allowing Healey to put Daryl Gibson in unopposed on the right wing.
Newcastle were given a slither of hope when May kicked a penalty to reduce the deficit to 24-10, but Leicester had the last say when Smith glided past Tait and Goode’s conversion and late penalty gave them a 34-10 half-time lead.
After the break, Leicester were as ruthless as Premiership leaders should be against sub-standard opponents.
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As for Newcastle, Aussie hardman Owen Finegan can’t arrive soon enough, because this was as soft as it gets.
STAR MAN: Ollie Smith (Leicester)
Leicester: S Vesty (G Murphy 69min); L Lloyd, O Smith (S Rabeni 40min), D Gibson, A Healey; A Goode, S Bemand (H Ellis 69min); G Rowntree (J Rawson 51min), G Chuter (J Buckland 51min), D Morris, M Johnson (capt), L Deacon (W Johnson 10min), H Tuilagi (L Moody 55min), M Corry, N Back.
Newcastle: T Flood; T May, M Tait, M Mayerhofler, M Stephenson (O Phillips 61min); M Wilkinson, J Grindal (L Dickson 51min); I Peel (capt), M Thompson, M Ward, L Gross (C Hamilton 51min), G Parling, M McCarthy, C Harris, S Sititi (P Dowson 61min).
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Tries: Healey 23, Smith 28, 37, Gibson 31, Lloyd 43, 76, Tuilagi 46, Back 56, 67, W Johnson 63, Murphy 70
Cons: Goode (11). Pens: Goode (2)
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Try: Mayerhofler 12. Con: May. Pen: May
Referee: T Spreadbury (RFU). Attendance: 16,000
Nick Cain at Welford Road