Wilkinson was outstanding - Bates - Sport in brief

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Wilkinson landed all seven of his place-kicks at goal, provided a brave scoring pass for Ollie Smith and then sealed the win for Newcastle with a 45-metre right-footed drop-goal.

"Jonny was outstanding again - the drop-goal suggests he is back to top form," said Newcastle director of rugby Steve Bates. "He played the game really cleverly, taking people on, varying his kicking game and causing them real problems. He hit a few people very hard, too, so there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the shoulder."

Wilkinson, who lost the England fly-half jersey to Danny Cipriani during the Six Nations and then missed the New Zealand tour to undergo shoulder surgery, returned to action on Sunday refreshed after a summer off.

That translated itself onto the field. The "new" Wilkinson has grown his hair and cast off the shackles.

"My hair was actually so long that I had to cut it myself before the game because it kept getting in my eyes," said Wilkinson.

"I've taken a good holiday over the summer. This is the new me, taking risks. I looked at the (drop-goal) opportunity and thought 'if it goes over then it's two scores up and pretty much game over'.

"If not I was giving the ball straight to Northampton. I think maybe the 'new me' needs to take those sorts of risks, but I was blowing on it as it got close to the crossbar!"