Versatile former Sale back signs for Newcastle

Highly-rated back Jack Metcalf is set for a return to the Gallagher Premiership after signing for Newcastle Falcons from Doncaster Knights.

Still only 23, Metcalf has amassed plenty of experience since being forced to leave his native Yorkshire when Leeds-based Carnegie went bust and a brilliant academy cohort broke up.

Sale Sharks took him across the Pennines and it wasn’t long before Metcalf quickly transitioned from the academy set-up to the first team alongside the likes of another Carnegie old boy, Joe Carpenter.

Metcalf scored for Sale on his Champions Cup debut against Ospreys in January 2022 and went on to cross four times in 12 appearances, in addition to having a loan spell at Coventry, before leaving for Ealing.

A short spell with Eastwood RFC in Australia’s Shute Shield followed his time at Ealing before Metcalf returned north, to join Doncaster, in January 2023.

He has enjoyed a good campaign with the Knights, scoring six tries in 12 appearances, to catch the eye of Newcastle consultant DoR Steve Diamond.

Capable of playing centre, full-back and wing, Metcalf brings versatility to the Falcons’ backline options.

He travels in the opposite direction to outside backs, Zach Kerr and George Wacokecoke, who have signed for Doncaster from Newcastle.