Gopperth lets in Leeds

Kiwi Jimmy Gopperth missed four penalty shots on his Newcastle debut as the Falcons came away with a 9-9 draw at Leeds Carnegie.

The 26-year-old, signed to fill the void left by Jonny Wilkinson, kicked just three out of seven attempts while opposite number Ceiron Thomas made three out of five to tie the scores in a poor encounter.

Five of Newcastle's 18 new recruits were handed starts - Gopperth, Gcobani Bobo, James Hudson and former Leeds pair Rob Vickerman and Tom Biggs - with Gopperth otherwise showing enough to suggest he will make an impact in the Guinness Premiership.

He looked to orchestrate play at every opportunity and illustrated his quality with some probing early kicks, although missed his first attempt after only two minutes.

But moments later Falcons almost crossed the line, Bobo breaking through on the left before Biggs took up the charge with Gopperth in support, but his offload was wayward and the move came to nothing.

Gopperth did boot his side into a sixth minute lead with a routine penalty but after missing another shot from long range, Leeds enjoyed a bout of pressure that gave Thomas the chance to level on 23 minutes after missing his first kick at goal.

Gopperth missed seven minutes before the break and Thomas followed suit on the stroke of half-time to end a miserable first 40 minutes, and the second half continued in similar vein with Gopperth missing his fourth attempt from five.

However, it was Newcastle that were looking the most likely to score and only a forward pass denied them a try in the 56th minute after a fine move down the left.

Gopperth gave them the lead on the hour though before Thomas levelled matters four minutes later, but the Kiwi gave the Falcons the advantage for a third time with 11 minutes remaining.

However, Thomas levelled five minutes later to give his side a share of the spoils.