England flyer lifts Saracens in second-half comeback against Newcastle

Joe Shaw praised Saracens’ character as they saw off a highly competitive and scrapping Newcastle side at StoneX Stadium.

The head coach saw his team overturn a 17-7 half-time deficit to run out 39-31 bonus-point winners for their third Prem victory of the season.

Noah Caluori came on after the break to lift what had been a lacklustre and flat home performance by racing over for a score as Sarries ran in five second-half tries to finally get the better of visitors who had threatened an upset.

Shaw said: “It’s probably best to forget about that first half because it wasn’t a pretty watch and was unexpected.

“Red Bulls did what they had to do to stop us getting across their line but I can’t remember seeing the team make so many handling errors.

“We let so many chances out there on the field and it made things much harder for us than they should have been.

“Fortunately, the guys improved a lot with their execution after the break and we created several fine tries.”

Red Bulls head coach Dan McFarland was left with mixed emotions after his side’s loss.

Having seen his visitors outplay and outscore their rivals in a strong and impressive first-half display, he admitted: “They scored four tries while our guys were in the bin.

“The game away from us just before half-time, as we spent a lot of time in our own third and Sarries were making a lot of errors and we were unable to capitalise on them.

“We needed to be a bit more ambitious when we had the opportunities. We didn’t have that many chances in second half.

“Losing Werner when he was such a threat for us and also the two yellow cards were turning points. We made life so hard and it’s a shame.

“It was frustrating because we were so good for 40 minutes. I was pleased with most things apart from the discipline which cost us dearly in that second half. We were right in the game and had been on top for most of the first half.

“But you cannot afford to give up so many penalties and go down to 13 men, if only temporarily, against a good team like Sarries.

“But to come here and still get a couple of bonus points proves that we are heading in the right direction and doing plenty of good things on the field. The guys are growing as a team each week and growing in confidence.

“There is plenty to be happy about going into the break. We can reset a little and work on things that need improving. But all in all the last few weeks have been very positive for the team’s development.”

Wing Christian Wade must wait to get the try which will take him to 102 and ahead of Chris Ashton in the all-time Prem scoring charts and McFarland insisted: “It will come eventually but he just has to be patient.

“He didn’t get many chances today.”