The black, green and gold, who played 30 minutes with 14 men due to a yellow card and a 20-minute red card for JJ van der Mescht, eventually prevailed 36-19.

But Newcastle gave their sell-out crowd plenty to shout about, looking like they had pulled back to 26-26 during the second period only for a Boeta Chamberlain try to be rightly ruled out.

And Red Bulls head coach Dickens, a former Saints player and coach, said: “We were slow to start for whatever reason and that is something we will look at, but the character of the players at times during that first half was fantastic.

“There were big momentum shifts within the game, but there were a lot more positives this week than last week (when Newcastle lost 57-5 at Sale).

“We have just played a team that lost in the Champions Cup last season. We have talked about cohesion in the last few weeks and they are a team that has been together for seven or eight years.

“We have talked about a Northampton model building from within and building from the academy and that is something we are looking to do here.

“It was a much better performance.

“The character and the way the lads stuck together for 80 minutes was a positive.”