Gopperth: Two penalties for Newcastle

All the points came in the third quarter of the game as the strong wind that battered Kingston Park denied either side the chance to play expansive rugby.

Toulon were on top early on, but it took the French side 14 minutes to make their superiority at the gain line count only for a pile-up at the line to be held up as the Falcons struggled to keep the game scoreless.

Superb back row defence from the ensuing scrum then cleared the immediate danger for Newcastle, but while the Falcons were feeding off scraps, Toulon were undone by handling errors in promising positions.

And as the first-half wore on, the visitors' tactic of playing tight, risk-free rugby proved easy to defend for the hosts.

Newcastle's first chance to score came on 35, but Jimmy Gopperth's kick swirled narrowly wide, but after finishing the half strongly, they quickly capitalised on having the wind at their backs after the break as Gopperth sent two kicks over - the second of which on 49 from close to the halfway line.

Toulon replied immediately with a nerveless kick from Julien Dumora, but as the rain lashed down, they struggled to build any pressure and Newcastle saw out a tense win.