Steve Diamond credited his Newcastle Falcons side for taking a four-try bonus point at Saracens on Saturday, but admitted they had been outclassed.

Speaking after the 75-28 defeat at StoneX Stadium, the director of rugby said: “We were up against a star-studded side pushing hard for the top four, and all we got out of it was a four-try bonus point.

“That’s not something that many teams manage here, to be fair, and credit to the lads for doing it, but of course to see the score blow out past 70 is pretty embarrassing.

“We asked the lads at half-time to get a bonus point, which they did, but if we’re honest about it we were beaten in all areas by a better team.”

Diamond added: “The difference between the two clubs is enormous, and it’s clear that investment is needed throughout Newcastle Falcons, by which I mean the playing squad, the coaching, the infrastructure, academy, commercial, stadium – absolutely everything.

“There’s activity behind the scenes, people are going through due processes and we’re obviously aware of the media reports, but I’m not involved in that. The club’s ownership handles that side of things, and all I’ll do is continue to run the rugby department as best I can.

“But we’ve got a hard-working set of lads who turn up every week, they give it their all and I can’t ask for much more. Yeah, the scoreline is horrible to see today, but this is the culmination of a group of lads who have been through adversity over the past three or four seasons.

“We’ve got a big game on Friday at home to Gloucester, where a number of players will be playing their last home game. It will be a big night for them, and we want to send them off in the right way as well as giving our supporters something to cheer.”