Newcastle confirm Jack Metcalf signing

As exclusively revealed on RugbyPass last week, Jack Metcalf has signed for Newcastle Falcons for the 2024/25 season.

The strapping 23-year-old Yorkshireman has agreed a one-year deal as he returns to the Premiership after two-and-a-bit seasons in the Championship, with Ealing and Doncaster.

Having come through the famed Yorkshire Academy, Metcalf joined Sale Sharks in 2021 and scored four tries in 12 appearances.

“I’m thrilled to be joining Newcastle Falcons and grateful for the opportunity,” said Metcalf, the former Sale Shark who is equally at home at full-back, wing or outside centre.

“It’s going to be a good group up there with all the new signings coming in and the lads who are already at the club, so it’s an exciting time.”

Newcastle Falcons’ consultant director of rugby Steve Diamond welcomed Metcalf’s arrival on Tyneside, saying: “Jack is a quality player and this is a really good chance for him to re-establish himself at Gallagher Premiership level, having shown a lot of promise during his time with Sale.

“He’s already got some great experience under his belt for such a relatively young age, and with having that utility element to his game he is someone who is going to be really useful for us in a number of different positions across the back line.”

Delighted by his new opportunity in the North East, Metcalf revealed his route to Kingston Park and his personal optimism around the prospects for the Premiership’s most northerly club.

“I was born and raised in Leeds, but I’ve not been playing rugby for that long, really” he said.

“I was an academy footballer at Barnsley and Doncaster Rovers, but at 17 I decided to play rugby. My grassroots club was West Park Leeds, and I went on to Bishop Burton College. I played for Yorkshire county and got involved with Yorkshire Carnegie’s academy in the Under-18s league before moving into professional rugby with their first-team squad in the Championship.

“Unfortunately they had serious financial issues so I moved over to Sale Sharks, and had two really enjoyable years there. I loved my time at Sale, and then I went to Ealing in the Championship, spent a bit of time in Australia with the Eastwood club and came back to Doncaster, where I got a lot of experience and game time.”

Metcalf scored six tries in nine games for Ealing and another six for Doncaster in his 12 games this season, having made a good impression at Sale, where he crossed paths with his new boss, Steve Diamond.

“I worked very briefly with Dimes at Sale so I’ve got a little bit of an idea what he’s about, and I also played with a few of Newcastle’s other signings there - Connor Doherty, Kieran Wilkinson and Cam Neild. It’s a good group that Dimes is putting together up there, and I think we’ll surprise a few people.

“With what Dimes is trying to create at the Falcons, it’s really exciting for a young player to be part of. It’s a perfect chance to excel and show what you’ve got, and Newcastle are a real dark horse. I honestly think it’s about to erupt up there.”

Metcalf becomes the Falcons’ ninth new signing for next season following the previously-announced arrivals of Edinburgh prop Luan de Bruin, Gloucester wing/centre Alex Hearle, Sale Sharks centre Connor Doherty, Leicester Tigers fly-half Kieran Wilkinson, Sale Sharks flanker Cameron Neild and England Students trio Max Pepper, Callum Hancock and Connor Hancock.

Five talented local players also step up to the senior academy with the signings of centre Rhys Beeckmans, scrum-half Joe Davis, fly-half Junior Newton, back-rower Reuben Parsons and fellow back-rower Charlie Turnbull.