Bates 'optimistic' over Jonny

Wilkinson: Staying with Falcons?

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Newcastle director of rugby Steve Bates is confident that Jonny Wilkinson will resist the temptations of a move to France and stay with the Falcons.

The England international has been linked with a switch to big-spending Paris club Racing Metro at the end of the current season.

However, speaking after Newcastle's 19-13 win over Northampton, Bates was optimistic that Wilkinson would be staying put.

"At the moment we are very optimistic about that. He is under contract for next season and, as far as I'm concerned, that's what we're expecting to happen," he said.

Fast start

Tom May, Wilkinson's understudy in the number 10 jersey, scored one of three early tries that helped the Falcons soar at Franklin's Gardens.

Jon Golding, Danny Williams and May also crossed inside the opening 11 minutes as Northampton lost on home soil for the first time since March 2007.

"We couldn't have asked for a better start but in some ways it put the pressure on us in the second half," Bates added. "We looked a little bit nervous and almost let them back into it.

"They played some pretty good stuff at the end of the first half and it was a very tense and nail-biting second half.

"We'd talked all week about winning and what beating this record Northampton have had at home would do for the club.

"We weren't talking about tries or bonus points, we just felt this was a great opportunity to win back-to-back away games which hasn't happened for a long time."

Gutted

Opposite number Jim Mallinder was left to look back on a disastrous start that saw the Saints slip 19-0 behind in a hurry.

"I'm gutted really. In the first 15 minutes we were terrible," he said.

"To concede three tries like that is very disappointing and it was always going to be a battle to come back from that."

Northampton's cause was not helped by international call-ups, with Scotland's Euan Murray and Sean Lamont and England's replacement hooker Dylan Hartley and utility back Ben Foden, all absent.

Mallinder added: "It's proved we are a long way from where we want to be in terms of our squad. We've got to learn lessons from today."