Director of rugby Steve Diamond insists there will be no panicking at Newcastle Falcons despite starting the Gallagher Premiership with a 24-3 home loss to Bristol Bears.

Trailing by just two points at half-time but conceding three second-half tries, Diamond said: “At half-time we were reasonably happy because they’d only had a couple of entries into our 22, we were defending well and we could see their sense of frustration.

“We asked for more of the same in the second half in terms of how we were defending but we began to veer away from the plan, and good sides will hurt you when you do that.

“Our discipline was good – we gave away eight penalties to their 16 – but we didn’t convert our chances.”

Targeting the set-piece for improvement, the Newcastle boss said: “We couldn’t win our line-out ball which meant we couldn’t generate any momentum, and we’ll look into the reasons behind that.

“It was a combination of the throwing, lifting, calling and everything, to be honest, and we’ll go through it all. We’ve got good line-out forwards and good coaching here, so I’m confident we’ll be able to put things right.

“I thought the endeavour was good – Sammy Arnold and Tom Gordon went well on their debuts, and young Joe Davis was lively when he came on for his debut at just 18 years of age.

“I’m disappointed but I’m not panicking, because I saw enough in those first 50 minutes to know we will be competitive in this league.

“I don’t like conceding four tries but credit to Bristol because they took their chances, and there’s lots we learned out there.

“We’re not going to panic, we’re not bringing the lads in on Sunday for a rollocking or anything like that, and we’ll just go through it calmly and methodically on Monday as a group.

“We had an error-strewn 15 or 20 minutes in the second half which is the bit that annoyed me the most, but we’ll keep our heads and work to get that out of our game.”

Captain Callum Chick added: “We’ve got faith in the plan here, and there’s lots we can take from tonight.

“Yeah of course it’s frustrating to concede those second-half tries and start the season with a defeat, but I’ve got belief in this group. We’ve got the right players and the right coaching to turn things round, and it will come.

“We’re aware that nobody on the outside of this group expects us to do anything this season – and after last year wo can blame them – but within these walls we’re confident we’ve got it in us to really push on and get those wins that everyone wants.”