Falcons boss Steve Bates hailed his side's endeavour, but bemoaned their lack of precision as Newcastle had only a losing bonus point to show from Sunday's trip to Guinness Premiership champions London Wasps.

Two second-half Tom May penalties salvaged the bonus point from a stop-start encounter, as Wasps clung on for a 12-6 victory.

Speaking after the match, the director of rugby said: “From an effort and togetherness standpoint I could not have asked any more from the players, but it was immensely frustrating to see so many personal errors ruin our chances of getting over the try line.

“We defended magnificently, scrambled well and worked incredibly hard for each other, which have all been hallmarks of our recent run, but in terms of creativity, precision and cohesion in attack we just weren't at the races.

“What makes it most annoying is that most of the mistakes were unforced errors, like a sloppy pass or a knock-on trying to catch the ball, and it is just infuriating because we are a much better side than that.”

Having the consolation of a bonus point to at least bring slight comfort from defeat, Bates added: “Taking the positives from the game, I didn't think Wasps ever really looked like scoring a try, because our defensive play was very strong.

“We definitely deserved the bonus point, and you couldn't really have argued if we'd nicked the win at the end, but ultimately it was our own errors that cost us.”

With Brent Wilson held up over the try line in the left corner during the second half, Bates said: “It was right on the far side of the pitch from me, so I didn't have a great view, but speaking to the players in the changing room they are convinced that Brent scored.

“It wasn't to be, so I'm not going to whinge about it, and we had chances to rectify it which we didn't take, so there's no excuses being made by us.”