It was a record 'home' attendance for the Falcons, whose victory was secured thanks to a long-range Toby Flood penalty.

Earlier, Fijian winger Vereniki Goneva had marked a try in front of the Leazes End with an Alan Shearer celebration.

Falcons' director of rugby Dean Richards told newcastlefalcons.co.uk: "St. James' Park is a fantastic stadium, as we've known for a little while since the World Cup in 2015, so in that respect we were just itching to get here.

"With a crowd of 30-odd thousand, it was absolutely brilliant on the day."

The game was dubbed The Big One and was preceded by a derby clash between Newcastle University and Northumbria University.

A £10 donation from every adult category two ticket and a £5 donation from every concession or under-16 category two ticket being made directly to the My Name'5 Doddie Foundation, set up by former rugby star Doddy Weir who has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

Newcastle Falcons are fourth in the Aviva Premiership and their next game is a European Challenge Cup quarter-final tie against Brive back at Kingston Park on Friday, 30th March (kick-off 8pm BST).