Premiership: Bath 34-26 Newcastle - Ben Spencer treble downs Falcons on opening day

Skipper Ben Spencer's hat-trick helped Bath to a 34-26 winning start to the Premiership season against Newcastle.

The scrum-half took the limelight on a day when Scotland star Finn Russell made his Bath debut as a replacement.

Newcastle belied their underdog status as Spencer's treble, and tries from Alfie Barbeary, Cameron Redpath and Will Muir kept Bath in front.

They stayed in it through Brett Connon's penalties, and Matias Orlando, Ben Stevenson and Jamie Blamire tries.

These two teams appeared to be heading in different directions this season as Bath finished last term with four consecutive wins and added Russell and South Africa prop Thomas Du Toit to an impressive squad.

Newcastle finished bottom of the table last season after losing seven of their final eight games, and 10 of their starting XV were academy products as they combated financial issues off the field.

The diverging fortunes meant nothing as Newcastle proved competitive, leading for most of the first half as Connon repeatedly punished some poor Bath discipline.

Barbeary celebrated his return to league action after last season was ruined by injury by forcing his way over for a first try in Bath colours, and Spencer took advantage of Joe Cokanasiga's sharp break to score his first and edge the home side ahead.

Clever work by Orlando, releasing in the tackle and then picking the ball up himself to score, restored Falcons' lead but Redpath benefited from a clever Tom Dunn offload and then Spencer surged over after excellent work from Barbeary and Chris Cloete to put Bath in control at half-time.

Russell made his bow after his big summer move from Racing 92 and he had a hand in the next Bath try, opting to tap rather than take the 22 drop-out, a move that caught Newcastle napping as Muir ran hard down the left and fed Spencer, who collected his own smart chip to complete his first career hat-trick.

The visitors refused to throw in the towel and wing Stevenson fielded his own grubber kick to score his first try in two seasons.

That kept the contest in doubt until Muir, another returning to league action from long-term injury, bounced off two tackles to score the clinching try, although Blamire forced his way over to give the scoreline a deserved air of respectability.

Bath director of rugby Johann van Graan told BBC Radio Bristol:

"Loads of things to work on but a very positive start at the Rec. Credit to Newcastle, they stuck in it for 80 minutes and are a very good team.

"When we had the ball we played in the right area and scored two tries from attacking kicks, which was satisfying.

"The big bit for us is that we need to get more territory and that's what we have to work on for next week.

"We finished last season well and have started this season well.

On Finn Russell: "It was a HIA (head injury assessment) on Max Ojomoh quite early (after 31 minutes) so he got some more minutes [than planned]. Well done to him in reacting to the situation.

"He had some good decision-making. The big moment was the quick 22 when we scored a fantastic try and his impressive moment was the kick in behind to gain field position when we didn't get any go-forward."

Newcastle head coach Alex Codling said:

"There was a lot to be proud of. I loved our mind-set to attack, our courage and tenacity, and I thought the game swung on a couple of key incidents.

"One of those was when we thought we had scored, and on another day we get that decision, and then we concede a try quickly after to make it a 14-point swing.

"To a man, the lads showed huge desire. They stuck to the plan and ultimately I'm disappointed and sad for them that they weren't rewarded with the result.

"Having two yellow cards is always going to make things tough but I loved our intent to play. On a couple of occasions we perhaps forced one pass too many but I can't fault the lads too much."

Bath: Gallagher; Cokanasiga, Ojomoh, Redpath, Muir; Bailey, Spencer; Obano, Dunn, Du Toit, Roux, Ewels, Hill, Cloete, Barbeary.

Replacements: Annett, Schoeman, Jonker, Lee-Warner, Reid, Schreuder, Russell, De Glanville.

Newcastle: Redshaw; Radwan, Penny, Orlando, Stevenson; Connon, O'Sullivan; Brocklebank, Blamire, McCallum, Van der Walt, De Chaves, Lockwood, Pepper, Chick.

Replacements: Van Vuuren, Brantingham, Tampin, McDonald, Cross, Stuart, Jennings, Obatoyinbo.

Sin-bin: Stevenson (10), Jennings (56).

Referee: Dan Jones