Gary Gold spoke of his delight following the Falcons morale-boosting 37-7 home triumph over Sale Sharks in the LV= Cup.

The new director of rugby celebrated his first game in charge at Kingston Park with a bonus-point victory by virtue of tries from Mark Wilson, Rob Vickers, Tim Swinson and Jimmy Gopperth.

But the experienced coach, who was assistant to Peter de Villiers at South Africa for four years, insists his side must continue to improve and keep their feet firmly on the ground.

Gold told Falcons TV: “The guys came out and put their bodies on the line and I am very proud of how they fronted up on the day against a Sale team who came out to play.

“They put us under pressure early in the game but we fought-back well with the superb commitment shown by the guys.

“We still have a long way to go and we should not get ahead of ourselves. We set ourselves the goal to improve in a couple of areas across the board and there were some significant improvements in certain areas of our game.

“But we have a long way to go and we have not achieved anything yet.”

The win moves Newcastle on to 10 points in their pool, four points behind the Scarlets who are red-hot favourites to progress through to the knockout stages.

Gold takes his troops to Leicester Tigers next week for their final pool game of the campaign before a trip to Bath in the Aviva Premiership beckons.

The new Falcons chief is hoping his unit can maintain their focus and keep improving as the Aviva Premiership looms large.

“I was pleased with the commitment shown by the guys and they never stopped fighting – their commitment in the tackle was excellent,” said Gold.

“I have a hungry bunch of guys here who want to make a difference,” he added.

Gold jetted into Newcastle just over two weeks ago and admits he has been overwhelmed by the messages of support and the passion for rugby in the North East.

“He added: “The North East people are renowned for their friendliness and hospitality and they have certainly lived up to that since my arrival.

“They are a great bunch of people who want to see their team improve and that is what we are hopefully going to do.

“The Falcons fans came out and really got behind the team today and they were huge in getting behind the boys. It was fantastic to see Kingston Park have so many supporters.”

Click here to watch the full interview with Gold on Falcons TV.

The Falcons entertain London Irish on Saturday 18 February (kick-off 3.30pm) with tickets available by calling the Falcons Ticket Hotline on 0871  226 6060 or click here to purchase online.