Wade reaches 100 Premiership tries as Exeter edge Newcastle 34-28
Christian Wade scored a hat-trick to reach 100 Premiership tries, but Newcastle Red Bulls were beaten 34-28 by Exeter at Sandy Park in a Premiership match on 11 October 2026. Wade's third score came early in the second half and moved him one shy of Chris Ashton's all-time Premiership try record of 101.
Wade, 35, became only the second player to reach a century of Premiership tries after a season-high personal performance. He spent four years from 2018 attempting to break into the NFL, returned to the Premiership with Gloucester in 2024 following two seasons at Racing 92 in France, and joined Newcastle last year after a brief spell with Wigan Warriors in rugby league.
Exeter opened the scoring when Ross Vintcent capitalised on a charged-down Zack Henry kick to touch down after 38 seconds, and the two teams combined for five tries inside the opening quarter to leave the hosts 19-14 ahead. Wade levelled the match three minutes after Vintcent's opener, then put in Max Hicks to give Newcastle a brief lead before Slade set up Vintcent's second in the 11th minute and later went over himself from 40 metres.
Ethan Roots was sin-binned for a no-arms tackle on Newcastle full-back Harrison Obatoyinbo 14 minutes from half-time, and moments before Roots returned Sammy Arnold broke through the Exeter line to create the opportunity for Wade's second score, which gave the Red Bulls a two-point lead at the interval. Sam Harris, making his Exeter league debut at full-back, dived over four minutes after the restart to restore Exeter's advantage.
Wade seized a Slade error early in the second half to race 40 metres and claim his third try, reaching the 100-try mark, while a potential Exeter score from Stephen Varney was ruled out by replays that showed a forward pass from Slade to Harris. Slade later kicked a 40-metre penalty in the 64th minute to put Exeter back in front and Bachuki Tchumbadze finished from a close-range maul in the dying moments to secure the result.
The match produced eight tries in total; Exeter scorers were Ross Vintcent (2), Henry Slade, Sam Harris and Bachuki Tchumbadze with Slade converting three and kicking a penalty, while Newcastle's tries came from Christian Wade (3) and Max Hicks with Zack Henry converting four times. The game did not match the weekend's 18-try, 119-point contest between Northampton and Bath noted in reports.
A crowd of 7,071 attended at Sandy Park, prompting closure of the North Terrace for the first time for a Premiership fixture, and referee sanctions included a yellow card for Ethan Roots (26) and Adam Brocklebank (76). Exeter's starting XV were Harris; Feyi-Waboso, Slade, Butt, Wyatt; Skinner, Varney; Burger, Yeandle, Iosefa-Scott, Wilson, Jenkins (capt), Roots, Vintcent, Fisilau with replacements Gulley, Goodrick-Clarke, Tchumbadze, Hooper, James, Wolstenholme, Haydon-Wood, Wimbush, while Newcastle started Obatoyinbo; Wade, Hearle, Arnold, Kok; Henry, Benitez Cruz; Rakete-Stones, Togiatama, Millar Mills, Usher, Jordan, Hicks, Christie (capt), Sotutu with replacements Adejimi, Brocklebank, Harper, Molina, Leatherbarrow, Graham, Elliott, Connon.
Newcastle head coach Dan McFarland told BBC Sport: "Every time you lose, you're disappointed. "Both weeks I've been proud of a lot of what we've done, very proud of the effort that we put in there, very proud that we went out and played the brand of rugby that we want to play going forward. "The fact that we've come to last season's finalists and lost narrowly at this stage is at the same time disappointing and positive in knowing that what we're trying to do we're, putting in place."
The result earned Exeter their first win of the season with a bonus point, keeping them in eighth place and closing the gap on leaders Gloucester to four points, while winless Newcastle remain bottom of the Premiership despite collecting two losing bonus points.