Christian Wade moved level with Chris Ashton on 101 Gallagher PREM tries as Newcastle Red Bulls earned their first victory of the season after defeating Sale Sharks 17-3 on Friday.

The 35-year-old speedster equalled the all-time league record when he received a pass from Will Rigg and sprinted over unopposed, sparking wild celebrations from his team-mates.

Wade himself was relatively relaxed but the other Newcastle players understood the significance of that score and also knew that the momentum had very much switched in the contest.

Newcastle went into the break 3-0 in arrears following a George Ford penalty for Sale, with Storm Austen making life difficult for both teams to move the ball.

Wade equals Ashton’s record

It had therefore been a mistake-ridden encounter but Wade’s well-worked try moved Red Bulls into a 5-3 advantage and his side never looked back.

Josh Hodge added the conversion before he kicked a penalty 10 minutes later to give the hosts a seven-point advantage going into the final quarter.

With conditions worsening, the Sharks panicked and started to make even more errors and Red Bulls fed off those Sale frailties.

Dan McFarland’s men took advantage of an ailing Sale lineout as they continually stole the ball after the visitors had set up several promising positions inside the opposition 22.

Newcastle were therefore not going to pass up the opportunity to claim their first win of the season and they duly sealed the victory when George McGuigan touched down.

It condemned their northern rivals to a second PREM Rugby defeat of the campaign and increased the pressure on director of rugby Alex Sanderson.

Much was expected of the Sharks in 2026/27 having recruited well and put together a very talented 23 but, after a disappointing 2025/26, they have started poorly.

The teams

Newcastle Red Bulls: 15 Josh Hodge, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Will Rigg, 11 Werner Kok, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Simón Benítez Cruz, 8 Hoskins Sotutu, 7 Tom Christie (c), 6 Max Hicks, 5 Cam Jordan, 4 Oscar Usher, 3 Elliot Millar Mills, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Pouri Rakete-Stones
Replacements: 16 Zuriel Togiatama, 17 Tom West, 18 Francisco Moreno, 19 Rusi Tuima, 20 Ollie Leatherbarrow, 21 Sam Graham, 22 James Elliott, 23 Zack Henry

Sale Sharks: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 George Ford, 9 Dom Hanson, 8 Tom Curry, 7 Ben Curry, 6 Christ Tshiunza, 5 Ben Bamber, 4 Ernst van Rhyn (c), 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Nathan Jibulu, 17 Si McIntyre, 18 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 19 Elia Canakaivata, 20 Sam Dugdale, 21 Alex Lozowski, 22 Marius Louw, 23 Arron Reed

Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Henry Pearson and Veryan Boscawen
TMO: Andrew Jackson