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Newcastle Falcons announced their return to England's top flight taking the second leg of the J.P Morgan Asset Management Premiership Rugby 7s series.

The Falcons were relegated to the RFU Championship at the end of the 2011-12 season but after a dominant campaign last term, they secured promotion to the Aviva Premiership and they have wasted no time in upsetting the apple cart at Franklin's Gardens on Friday night. They booked their spot in the final of the Premiership Sevens series - which takes place at Bath's Recreation Ground on August 9 - with wins over Sale Sharks, Leicester Tigers and Northampton Saints.

They will be joined in the final of the tournament by Leicester Tigers and will line-up alongside Worcester Warriors and Gloucester with the final leg taking place on Saturday evening at Allianz Park.

A referee sports the new head-mounted Ref Cam © Getty Images

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The Saints and the Falcons were first up on the evening and it was Newcastle who prevailed 28-22. Newcastle crossed for tries through Tom Catterick, Michael Tait, Richard Mayhew and Simon Hammersley while the Saints brought up their total through scores from Paul Diggin, Harry Betts and a double from Tom Collins.

It was then the turn of Leicester and Sale with the Tigers securing a 10-7 triumph. Nathan Fowles crossed for Sale but tries from Jake Farnworth and Tahir El Mahdi gave the Tigers the win.

But the Tigers' joy was short-lived with the Falcons beating them 19-10 in the next match. Newcastle took a 19-0 lead thanks to a Harrison Collins double and another from Catterick. The Tigers did their best to get back into the match but tries from Pasqualle Dunn and Jake Farnworth proved to be nothing more than consolation scores.

The next match of the evening saw Sale take on hosts Northampton and it was the Sharks who did enough to come through with a 24-22 triumph. Sale took an early lead thanks to a double from John O'Donnell but the Saints pinned them back with Diggin, Ryan Glynn and two from Tom Collins putting the hosts in the lead. However, it was the Sharks who did enough to win with Nathan and Josh Fowles crashing over.

The Falcons were next up and they completed the clean sweep with a 12-5 triumph over the Sharks. Joel Hodgson and Mayhew crossed for Newcastle while Tom Brady grabbed one for Sale.

And in the last match of the evening, Northampton took on East Midlands rivals Leicester. The Tigers triumphed 17-5 with David Williams scoring and El Mahdi bagging a double for Leicester while Alex Day crossed for the Saints.

Sale's Josh Fowles tries to make some yards © Getty Images

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