By Osric
January 11 2024

True North rugby put on a nail-biting show twenty seasons ago at Twickenham when Newcastle Falcons edged past Sale in the 2003-04 Powergen Cup final.A London crowd just shy of 50,000 witnessed Falcons pip their northern rivals 37-33 in what was the 33rd iteration of the club competition for English clubs.Falcons had seen off Rotherham Titans 10-38 having joined the competition with the other premiership clubs in the Sixth Round. A Newcastle home quarter final saw London Irish beaten 24-12, setting up a last four clash with Pertemps Bees. The Bees (Birmingham/Solihull rebranded) were swept away 53-3, paving the Falcons route to a final at HQ.Sale’s route to the final saw them despatch Leicester Tigers (28-43), Saracens (QF) (26-3) and Leeds Tykes (SF) (33-20).The earlier rounds of the tournament had seen local teams Tynedale, Blaydon and Darlington Mowden Park meet with some success. The cup included teams from across rugby’s leagues, with a raft of long-established northern teams involved. Preston Grasshoppers, Fylde, Waterloo, Orrell, Hull Ionians, Wakefield, Wharfedale and Harrogate all making early inroads.The Twickenham teams included a host of talent. In keeping with the times, each side fielded relatively few non-UK players (*). The match was overseen by Tony Spreadbury.

Newcastle Falcons Sale Sharks
Coach – Rob Andrew Coach – Jim Mallinder

15. Joe Shaw 15. Jason Robinson
14. Tom May 14. Mark Cueto
13. Mark Mayerhofler* 13. Chris Mayor
12. Jamie Noon 12. Jos Baxendell
11. Michael Stephenson 11. Steve Hanley
10. Dave Walder 10. Charlie Hodgson
9. James Grindal 9. Nick Walshe
1. Ian Peel 1. Andrew Sheridan
2. Nick Makin 2. Andy Titterrell
3. Micky Ward 3. Barry Stewart
4. Garath Archer 4. Iain Fullarton
5. Stuart Grimes 5. Jason White
6. Jon Dunbar 6. Pete Angelsea
7. Warren Britz* 7. Alex Sanderson
8. Hugh Vyvyan 8. Chris Jones

16. Marius Hurter* 16. Matt Cairns
17. Hall Charlton 17. Stuart Turner
18. Craig Hamilton 18. Dean Schofield
19. Matt Thompson 19. Hugh Perrett*
20. Phil Dowson 20. Richard Wigglesworth
21. Daryl Lilley* 21. Mike Hercus*
22. Ben Gollings 22. Vaughan Going*

Tries: Britz, Vyvyan, Shaw,
Dowson

Tries: Hanley, Cueto, Mayor
Conv: Walder 4 Conv: Hodgson 3
Pens: Walder 3 Pens: Hodgson 4