Gloucester swept Newcastle aside 60-9 in their Zurich Championship clash at Kingsholm on Saturday.

Jonny Wilkinson was taken to hospital for X-rays as following a powerful challenge from Junior Paramore after 15 minutes and was unable to put any weight on his left leg as he tried to stand.

Under the watching gaze of England manager Clive Woodward, the combative stand-off was carried from the field and taken straight to hospital for an assessment of the damage.

The loss of his star man was hardly what Falcons chief Rob Andrew needed as his side attempted to silence a vocal home crowd, needled by accusations of racism on Newcastle's last visit in December.

Andrew was last week forced into a humiliating climbdown over his post-match allegations that Newcastle's Tongan back-row Epi Taione had been the victim of racist insults from Gloucester hooker Olivier Azam and the Kingsholm crowd

And, as Gloucester built up an increasingly unstoppable head of steam, Andrew was left squirming by the touchline as the sarcastic home supporters gleefully asked 'are you watching' as the total neared the half century.

The win earned Gloucester a semi-final visit to either Sale or Wasps in a fortnight, and the possibility of erasing the Parker Pen Shield last four defeat by the Sharks last month.

A poor opening period, which saw Ludovic Mercier and Dave Walder exchange penalties either side of Wilkinson's departure, burst into life on the quarter mark when Andy Todd scooped up a loose ball and weaved his way past a static Newcastle defence for the first try.

Walder quickly pulled his team back within range with a second penalty, but it only proved the prelude to a Gloucester attacking blitz, which brought them three scores and effectively won the match.

Azam, whose entrance was greeted with noisy approval from the home support, plucked possession from the base of a Newcastle ruck, and fed James Simpson-Daniel on his outside.

Simpson-Daniel's electrifying recent burst of five tries in two games has pushed him in contention for an England spot on the summer tour to Argentina.

This time though, he turned provider, advancing 20 metres before sending Jamie Forrester over.

Simpson-Daniel was also the architect of Gloucester's next touchdown, taking advantage of hesitant visitors' defending to release Tom Beim on a run to the line with a neat reverse pass.

Paramore added another before the break and, with Mercier's boot proving as reliable as ever, the home side held an imposing 23-point lead at the interval.

Newcastle needed to hit the ground running in the second period, and looked certain to get the perfect start as Michael Stephenson hacked on a loose ball just inside his own half and charged clear.

Stephenson is one of the fastest players in the Premiership but, from the opposite wing, Simpson-Daniel hit full throttle and won the race to ground the ball inside his own in-goal area.

Gloucester held out at the five metre scrum, and though Walder did pull three points back with a simple penalty, Gloucester quickly replied with a Daren O'Leary try.

It was all over, and as if to emphasise the point, skipper Phil Vickery raised the roof with a barnstorming effort, virtually carrying Gareth McClure on his back for 20 metres, before pushing away Liam Botham to score in the corner.

After a brief respite, Mercier charged through for Gloucester's seventh try, before Paul shot over halfway and left Botham on his backside with a top speed sidestep which gave him a clear run to the posts.

Walder's attempted restart flew embarrassingly backwards, bringing raucous laughter which increased further as Terry Fanolua charged over in stoppage time.

The defeat was a sad end to the illustrious Falcons careers of Pat Lam, Gary Armstrong and Doddie Weir.