Bates hails wndrous Wilko

Newcastle director of rugby Steve Bates paid tribute to Jonny Wilkinson after the fly-half became the Guinness Premiership's record points-scorer.

Falcons fly-half edges ahead of Goode

Newcastle director of rugby Steve Bates paid tribute to Jonny Wilkinson after the fly-half became the Guinness Premiership's record points-scorer. Wilkinson kicked two conversions and a penalty in the 17-3 win over Bristol to take his points total to 1,482, two ahead of Andy Goode. Bates said: "When Jonny kicked that conversion from the touchline in the second half it was just what we needed. "It gave the team a big lift but that's what you get with Jonny. It's quite amazing that he has the record for points scoring in the Premiership considering how much rugby he has missed. "We're very pleased with the result although we did make a few errors and we now go to Gloucester with confidence. "We will keep our feet on the floor because while it was a good performance, it wasn't a vintage performance." Bristol head coach Richard Hill added: "There's no-one like Jonny when he's playing behind a pack going forward and we contributed to our own downfall by making far too many mistakes. "I can't put my finger on why that happened and I'm at a bit of loss really after we played so well last week."