IF you're going to go out, you might as well go out at the top, so Newcastle Falcons skipper Hugh Vyvyan couldn't have chosen a better way in which to end his eight-year association with the club than lifting the Powergen Cup above his head at Twickenham.

Vyvyan will leave Kingston Park at the end of the season after agreeing to move south to take up a new challenge with Saracens.

Some had questioned whether the 27-year-old possessed the necessary focus and desire to lead the Falcons into battle against Sale with his mind already drifting to pastures new.

But the England international provided the most emphatic of answers on Saturday as his barnstorming performance helped the Falcons to a memorable 37-33 win.

Equally as effective at the line-out or in the loose, Vyvyan covered every inch of the Twickenham turf as he led Newcastle's cup charge from the front.

The number eight was a student at the city's university when he first joined the Falcons in 1996 and, after a brief substitute appearance in 2001's cup success, it was fitting that his finest hour in a Falcons' shirt should also have been his last of note.

"It's the best game of rugby I've ever been involved in," beamed a jubilant Vyvyan. "Neither team deserved to lose, but we scored at the right time and managed to hold on.

"To have played with this group of players for so long and then won the cup with them is fantastic.

"We've got a very close friendship amongst the team, and so to win like this is a dream come true.

"At the moment it seems a bit bizarre that I'm leaving because I've just enjoyed the best rugby experience of my life.

"It was quite emotional lifting the cup because I've loved the whole of my time at Newcastle and I've made a lot of friends here. Lifting the Powergen Cup was the best possible way I could go out."

Vyvyan's second-half try was a fitting reward for his dominant display, but the skipper's most telling intervention came four minutes from time.

Sale fly-half Charlie Hodgson momentarily dallied as he prepared to clear his lines, and Vyvyan was on him in a flash to charge down his kick and set up flanker Phil Dowson for his match-winning score.

"Charging down kicks is just part of my job," said Vyvyan. "Warren Britz put some good pressure on Charlie in the first half and we all just looked to carry that on.

"As a back rower, you want to get in the face of the number ten. He probably took longer than he would have wanted to with the kick, but I still haven't got a clue where the ball went when it hit me."

Newcastle's victory was a helter-skelter affair with the lead changing hands on numerous occasions and neither side ever able to shake off their opponents.

But, despite the regular fluctuations, fly-half Dave Walder always felt that the Falcons possessed the upper hand.

The Newcastle-born number ten bagged 17 points in the win and, after scoring the match-winning try three years ago, proved equally vital again.

"I know it might not have looked like it, but I always felt that there was an element of control," said Walder.

"We managed to play our game and that was important. We've developed a relatively structured game at the club and we were able to fall back on that when things got tight."

Newcastle's fans had their hearts in their mouths when Walder passed up the chance to kick a penalty with the Falcons trailing 30-24, and then proceeded to kick the ball dead as he went for the corner.

But the 25-year-old showed his mettle by kicking two pinpoint penalties to draw the sides level and then produced an ice-cool clearance from behind his own try line to keep Newcastle's noses in front in the dying seconds.

"I don't think Rob was that keen on me putting the next penalty to the corner after I'd put that one dead," laughed Walder. "But thankfully I manged to slot two over straight away."