With speculation linking either Toby Flood or Charlie Hodgson with a call to replace the injured Jamie Noon in Nantes, it was the Newcastle man who was the clear winner when the sides met in the Premiership clash at Kingston Park where Sale went down to a 33-12 defeat.
Man of the match Flood was involved in everything, laying on two of his side’s four tries, and successful with two penalties, two conversions and a drop goal.
Falcons director of rugby John Fletcher was in no doubt, saying: "On that performance, Toby played better than Charlie," but then added: "In the windy conditions, anyone could have struggled."
The wind was undoubtedly the deciding factor in the game and as Fletcher put it: "We decided not to move it around because of the weather and we managed the wind a lot better than them."
