Newcastle Red Bulls kicked off their new era with a comfortable 26-14 win against Harlequins in the Prem Rugby Cup, in front of a record cup crowd of 9,089 at a rain-drenched Kingston Park.
Newcastle, who have rebranded from the Falcons into the Red Bulls following the completion of a takeover in August, were always in control against Quins in their Pool B opener.
Tries from George McGuigan and Murray McCallum in the first half, followed by scores from Oli Spencer and Alex Hearle in the second, kept a youthful Quins outfit at arm’s length throughout and secured a bonus-point victory.
Danny Wilson took charge of Quins for the final time before he joins the coaching staff of Wales’ national team.
In Friday’s other match, Gloucester registered a perfect opening to their Prem Cup campaign with a 29-15 bonus-point victory over Exeter Chiefs in their Pool A fixture at Kingsholm.
Gloucester had to fight hard to gain control against Rob Baxter’s Chiefs and needed a strong second-half performance to put the game to bed.
Three tries from the visitors in the first half saw them go in at the break 15-14 up, before the hosts ran in two tries from Josiah Edwards-Giraud and Jack Innard, to go with a penalty from the boot of George Barton, to stretch clear.
Yet the night was all about new beginnings in Newcastle, where the Red Bull investment has energised a side that made the semi-finals of this competition but finished bottom of the Premiership last season.
And after absorbing early pressure and battling through rain which hit in the second period, the home side were always a score to the good, with even a late yellow card for Callum Hancock failing to dislodge their grip on the contest.