By Duncan Wood
November 8 2002

Here is the squad news from both camps and stats from previous meetings. Both coaches are playing their cards close to their chests and naming squads rather than starting lineups. Bristol lead the series 6-4.

Peter Thorburn hasn't given much away in advance by naming a 27 man squad whilst Rob Andrew names a 22 man squad. It's a case of selecting 30 from 47 I suppose!

Ben Sturnham, Matt Salter and Brendon Daniel all make the squad for the first time in several weeks as they return from injury.

Also, the Puma pairing of Pichot and Contepomi, make good their promise of flying back in time to take on Newcastle after playing for Argentina for Australia last Saturday although a full 80 minutes may be beyond them after the travel.

Newcastle's squad contains a lot of unfamiliar names to Bristol supporters due to some notable international absentees although there are still some very good players on display - May, Noon, Stephenson, Taione, Hurter, Arnold etc

The Bristol and Newcastle squads are as follows:

Bristol Shoguns vs Newcastle Falcons
Sun 10 Nov at Memorial Stadium - KO 15:00

Summary of meetings between the teams in the Premiership
Played 10
Bristol Shoguns Won 6 , 60.0%
Newcastle Falcons Won 4, 40.0%

Biggest Win for Bristol Shoguns, 26 - 0, 04 Dec 1993
Biggest Win for Newcastle Falcons, 50 - 8, 27 Dec 1997

Bristol Shoguns top try scorer vs Newcastle Falcons, Luke Nabaro, 4 tries

Bristol Shoguns top points scorer vs Newcastle Falcons, Mark Tainton, 25 points

Newcastle Falcons top try scorer vs Bristol Shoguns, Gary Armstrong, 5 tries

Newcastle Falcons top points scorer vs Bristol Shoguns, Jonny Wilkinson, 52 points

Previous Meetings

Date		Result	Venue
24 Feb 2002	Bristol Shoguns vs Newcastle	33-17	Memorial Stadium
14 Oct 2001	Bristol Shoguns vs Newcastle	20-37	Kingston Park
27 Dec 2000	Bristol Shoguns vs Newcastle	15-23	Kingston Park
17 Dec 2000	Bristol Shoguns vs Newcastle	27-14	Memorial Stadium
23 Apr 2000	Bristol Shoguns vs Newcastle	30-11	Memorial Stadium
26 Sep 1999	Bristol Shoguns vs Newcastle	37-32	Kingston Park
26 Apr 1998	Bristol Shoguns vs Newcastle	18-43	Kingston Park
27 Dec 1997	Bristol Shoguns vs Newcastle	8-50	Memorial Stadium
23 Apr 1994	Bristol Shoguns vs Newcastle	22-13	Kingston Park
04 Dec 1993	Bristol Shoguns vs Newcastle	26-0	Memorial Stadium

Bristol Shoguns (12) v Newcastle Falcons (8)

· Bristol have won only one of their seven Premiership games so far this season - a 25-20 win over Leicester on 29 September.
· The Falcons have lost their last eight away Premiership and Championship matches, although they did beat Grenoble 19-12 in France on 12 October.
· Newcastle have won just once in five trips to the Memorial Stadium - a 50 points to 8 drubbing in December 1997 (when Bristol actually led for a while following a Dave Tuieti interception try!)