Steve Diamond made no attempt to gloss over Newcastle Falcons’ 85-14 defeat at Bristol Bears on Sunday.

Speaking after the Gallagher Premiership clash at Ashton Gate, the consultant director of rugby said: “It’s uncharted waters for me, and for most of the players in the changing room.

“We’ve come across a very good Bristol side, so first things first, we have to give them plenty of credit for playing really well. I think they’d have beaten most teams by 25 or 30 points playing like that, but clearly we’re lacking in confidence and produced an unacceptable performance.

“We were three tries down and had hardly touched the ball after 10 or 15 minutes, and it spiralled from there. It was basically game over at that point, and of course it’s incredibly disappointing for us and our supporters.

“This has to be a line in the sand for us, and there were no positives to take.

“The only thing I can say for it is that it has helped me make up my mind on a few of the players, and we’ll be a better side moving forward into next season.”

Faced with the challenge of revving up his troops for next Sunday’s northern derby, Diamond said: “I won’t be reviewing the game.

“The players will get two days off, and then we’ll come back refreshed and fully focused as we prepare to host Sale Sharks on Sunday.

“It won’t be and it can’t be as bad as it was today, and there were no plus points for us.

“We’re embarking on changes at the club and there are a lot of good people here, both in terms of players and staff.

“It’s a tough world out there, and we’re obviously not up to it in certain areas. That was evident today, and over the course of the season. Belief is difficult to get when you can’t convert, and whilst we’ve been close in our previous two games, we were just an entirely different side today.

“I thought we’d taken a couple of steps forward over the past few weeks, but this was a big step back. We didn’t get off the bus, and all I can do is take them on the bus back up to Newcastle and get them ready for Sale Sharks next weekend.”