Christian Wade reaches 100 Premiership tries as Exeter edge Newcastle

Christian Wade reached 100 Premiership tries with a hat-trick for Newcastle Red Bulls, but Exeter claimed a 34-28 victory at Sandy Park. BBC Sport reported that the 35-year-old became only the second player to reach the milestone, leaving him one try behind Chris Ashton's competition record of 101. The result gave Exeter their first win of the season.

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Wade scored twice before half-time and completed his treble early in the second half, turning an inaccurate Henry Slade pass into a 40-metre run to the line. His personal achievement came in a match Newcastle led at the interval and again after that third try, before Exeter recovered through Slade's boot and a late forward-driven score.

The opening exchanges produced five tries inside the first quarter. Ross Vintcent, returning from injury, scored after just 38 seconds by charging down Zack Henry's kick. Wade answered with the 98th league try of his career, while Vintcent added a second and Slade also crossed for Exeter. Newcastle's other early scorer was Max Hicks, who was set up by Wade.

Exeter led 19-14 after that burst of scoring but lost Ethan Roots to a yellow card for a no-arms tackle on Harrison Obatoyinbo. Shortly before Roots was due back, Sammy Arnold broke through the home defence and Wade finished for his second try. Newcastle consequently went into half-time 21-19 ahead, with Henry converting all four of their tries across the match.

Sam Harris put Exeter back in front four minutes after the restart on his league debut for the club, only for Wade to respond four minutes later. Exeter then had a Stephen Varney effort ruled out after replays revealed a forward pass in the build-up. Slade's penalty in the 64th minute restored the home lead, and Bachuki Tchumbadze's late try from a line-out maul settled the contest.

The bonus-point victory left Exeter eighth, four points behind leaders Gloucester, while Newcastle remained bottom and without a win despite collecting two bonus points. Newcastle head coach Dan McFarland told BBC Sport he was disappointed by the defeat but encouraged by his team's effort and attacking approach. He pointed to the narrow margin against last season's finalists as evidence that Newcastle were beginning to implement their intended style.