England qualified ex-All Blacks No.8 Hoskins Sotutu set first Newcastle Red Bulls start

Newcastle Red Bulls have handed Hoskins Sotutu his first Gallagher PREM start since arriving at the club, with the ex-All Black selected at No.8 for Saturday night’s meeting with Leicester Tigers.

The back-rower could qualify for England duty have last played for New Zealand in 2022.

Sotutu made his debut as a replacement in last weekend’s trip to Northampton Saints and is one of two alterations to Dan McFarland’s XV.

The other sees wing Obi Ene brought in for his first competitive appearance, with Werner Kok unavailable due to a hamstring problem.

In the forwards, Adam Brocklebank is recalled to the matchday 23 after missing the opening round. Newcastle head into the contest aiming to back up their PREM Rugby Cup victory over Leicester last month, when they claimed a 36-24 win at Mattioli Woods Welford Road.

“We saw a lot of tries over the whole piece last weekend, which I think is partly a consequence of the ‘escort’ laws,” said head coach Dan McFarland.

“What it means is more 50-50s under the high ball, which means more transition and more unstructured attack. That’s a big part of our game, and there’s a real emphasis on how we can make the most of those situations.

“Defence coaches across the league are probably finding it difficult at the moment because you’re regularly seeing 12 or 13 tries in a game, and the officiating seems to be favouring the attack.

“To be honest I totally agree with that, but I’ll admit it makes it a tough time for the defensive coaches. Those crumbs around the aerial contest are now such a big part of the game, and it’s a case of what systems can you put in place to deal with it.”

McFarland also believes attack coaches deserve credit for adapting quickly to the changes.

“I also think you have to give credit to the attack coaches and players across the league, because they’re trying new things all the time and making defences have to think more,” he said.

“Fans in general I think appreciate that, and from my side as a rugby watcher it makes it a more exciting spectacle.”

Despite taking a losing bonus point from Franklin’s Gardens, McFarland said there were plenty of positives to build on.

“We’re competitive, professional people who never want to lose, because losing hurts. But hurt is fuel, and there’s an understanding that we’re on a journey.

“This is all a process for us, and it takes time. The best way to react is to test yourself against another quality team, and we’ll certainly be doing that on Saturday.

“At Northampton we were looking to play a high-energy game where we moved the ball a lot, and I thought we did that. Going forward we can definitely create more opportunities by better connection and cohesion, and that will put us in a much better position.”

Looking ahead to the visit of Leicester, McFarland said establishing Kingston Park as a difficult venue for opponents remains a key objective.

“We want to make Kingston Park somewhere that us and our supporters can be proud of.

“The starting point is effort and physicality, because fans love that and everything else flows from it in a rugby sense.

“It’s going to be tough because the Gallagher PREM is an unforgiving league full of really good teams, but if we play with optimism and give our heart and soul for each other every single week then I think we’re on a journey which will ultimately lead to success.”

Newcastle Red Bulls: 15 Harrison Obatoyinbo, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Alex Hearle, 12 Chris Harris, 11 Obi Ene, 10 Brett Connon, 9 James Elliott; 1 Pouri Rakete-Stones, 2 George McGuigan, 3 Elliot Millar Mills, 4 Oscar Usher, 5 Cam Jordan, 6 Max Hicks, 7 Tom Christie (captain), 8 Hoskins Sotutu.

Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Adam Brocklebank, 18 James Harper, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Ollie Leatherbarrow, 21 Sam Graham, 22 Simón Benítez Cruz, 23 Zack Henry.