Newcastle Falcons v Harlequins Tetley Bitter Cup Final 2000/2001 Season

This video was copied from the original Sky Sports Broadcast on 24th February 2001. Its purely for entertainment purposes.

The following is from an article in The Rugby Paper by Nick Verdier

Newcastle and the 2001 Tetley’s Bitter Cup final
Posted on 20th August 2012 by Nick Verdier in Moment In Time

Sensational game, sensational finish. Widely considered to be one of the best cup finals of all time, two star-studded teams went at it from first whistle to last and it was Newcastle Falcons who prevailed, leaving a desperately disappointed Harlequins side to reflect on the vagaries of fate following a controversial chain of events that led to the Falcons’ winning try.

With 83 minutes on the clock and Quins hanging on grimly to a three-point lead, Newcastle prop Ian Peel appeared to have been ushered safely into touch. Quins throw? Not according to touch judge Steve Lander, who awarded a Falcons lineout from which Rob Andrew’s men fashioned a last-gasp attack that led to full-back Dave Walder scoring in the corner. A young Jonny Wilkinson converted and it was game over, leaving Quins complaining long and hard into the night.

“I was staggered at the time and I’m still fairly staggered now,” Quins chief executive and acting head coach, Mark Evans, said afterwards. “You have a raging sense of injustice when you lose a game like that.” Paul Burke, the Harlequins fly-half, added: “It was a disgrace. The guy took the ball into touch so how could it be their lineout? We certainly deserved to win.”

None of this detracted from what was a magnificent display of club rugby, one that makes older supporters yearn for the days when the old RFU Senior Cup really meant something and when supporters from all over the country would flock to the capital for the annual denouement at Twickenham. By comparison the current watered down version, otherwise known as the LV= Cup, does not cut the mustard. Quite where things went wrong is a mystery of the age.

No matter, this particular game was a celebration of all that was good back then, particularly for Newcastle whose eclectic mix of experienced stars and exuberant, home-reared youth prevailed on a day when both sides decided to fling the ball around with attacking intent.