The stats don’t exactly make pretty reading for Newcastle. Four straight seasons finishing bottom of the Gallagher Prem table, a mere two finishes higher than third-bottom since 2010 and a sum total of just four wins in the league over the past three seasons.
The current ‘ring-fenced’ era of English rugby at least means their recent spate of cellar-dwelling hasn’t seen them drop into the Championship, as they twice did during the 2010s (earning immediate promotion back to the top tier on each occasion), but those at Kingston Park could be forgiven for feeling pretty gloomy right now.
