Lions dominate, but lose to Newcastle at the death

If ever there was a game for the Lions to win on a platter, it was their EPCR Challenge match against the Newcastle Red Bulls. But somehow on Saturday night they conspired to dominate every facet of the game, and walk away with a 14-10 loss, dealing their campaign in the tournament a really severe blow.

Prop Murray McCallum burrowed his way over in the 78th minute to give Newcastle the start of the celebrations they had been hoping for and leave the Lions heads hanging in dismay.

It was unbelievable to say the least, but it was one of those games you see every now and again in rugby where a team hangs in there against the odds, and when they get a chance, they plant a knockout blow.

Because when you consider that Newcastle have won one game this entire season and that was last week against Lyon, and are lying bottom of the English Premiership, the Lions dominance could have been expected.

Yet somehow this Lions team continues to disappoint. They have the firepower and they have the game, but there seems to be a mental block in putting away the opposition.

All too often they get themselves in winning positions only to squander it. For the commentary team to muse how the Lions weren’t further ahead and hadn’t sealed the game in the second half only underscores what their fans must be feeling.

LIONS HAD SO MUCH DOMINANCE

Because the Lions had close to a dozen entries into the 22 metre area of the Falcons, they dominated the physical exchanges and seemed to be attacking for most of the game. Yet they scored only one try and were stopped again and again - sometimes by some brave Newcastle defence, and sometimes by their own inability to be clinical. Dropped passes, wayward passes and simple mistakes littered their play.

𝗙𝗨𝗟𝗟 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘 | Newcastle Red Bulls 14 – 10 Lions
Down to the wire in Newcastle.

#ChallengeCupRugby | #ForOurCity | #NEWvLIO#LionsPride pic.twitter.com/r0pcpB2ekI — Lions (@LionsRugbyCo) December 13, 2025

As you can probably guess, this game, played in typical Newcastle breezy weather, won’t go down as a classic.

Still, there must be a deeper examination on why the Lions continue to fail so spectacularly, especially as the Union’s management continue to employ a coaching team that had a 42 per cent win record after six seasons. It must be something else.

For all their efforts the Lions had more than 50 per cent possession and territory, and the only area that malfunctioned was their lineout in the second half - but that may have been due to the wind.

Otherwise they will be kicking themselves for not winning this game. It’s as simple as that.

For the record, the only moments that troubled the scorers in the game was Angelo Davids intercepting a pass in the opening minutes to score the Lions’ only try.

Newcastle’s impressive centre Alex Hearle finished off a move created by Chamberlain where he broke clear on the outside, sending the pass inside to Hearle to score untouched under the posts.

DAVIDS WAS LUCKY

Davids, for his part, was very lucky not to receive a harsher punishment for a swinging arm that seemed to knock Christian Wade out. While Davids may have been trying to dislodge the ball, his arm caught Wade in the face, who dropped and then was knocked out hitting the ground. A different set of officials may have judged it harsher, especially as Wade had to leave the field and play no further part in the game.

But despite all of that, the Lions were dominant, and when Newcastle got their chance in the second half, they took it, scoring a famous victory for the battling club.

The Lions will return home to lick their wounds, but with a second half implosion against Benetton and now this loss, some serious questions need to be asked. The reality is that sides that lose their opening two games are very close to being out of the competition, and even if they do score a home win in their next game against Lyon and sneak into the playoffs, they will face a seeded team there.

Their road just got tougher in the Challenge Cup and it is all their own doing.

Scorers

Newcastle Falcons - tries: Alex Hearle, Murray McCallum. Conversions: Boeta Chamberlain, Brett Connon.

Lions - try: Angelo Davids. Conversion: Sam Francis. Penalty: Francis.