Newcastle caretaker coach Steve Bates tried to remain upbeat after his side's 28-8 home defeat by Bristol.
Newcastle caretaker coach Steve Bates tried to remain upbeat after his side's 28-8 home defeat by Bristol.
Bates was in charge of the Falcons for the first time following the sacking of John Fletcher and Peter Walton on Tuesday.
And his temporary reign got off to a poor start as Bristol won comfortably at Kingston Park.
"It's been an eventful week, but we're professional sportsmen and these things happen and you have to absorb them and move on," Bates said.
"I didn't think there was any hangover among the players from the week.
"It wasn't the result we were looking for, but there were bits of our game which functioned well and were positive.
Crucial decisions
"A couple of refereeing decisions didn't go our way and I thought we should have had a penalty try. Had the referee seen it differently, it would have been 20-15 and not 20-8 and we could have gone on to win the game from there.
"Bristol are an attritional side with a big set of forwards and we just couldn't get our hands on the ball in the first half and everybody got a little bit ragged in the second half, but there were positives we can take out of the game.
"We will need to look at our line-out which didn't function as well as we would have wanted and I thought the wind was a 10-point factor. But we handed them a score in the first 30 seconds and were 17-0 down at the break. We created a lot of opportunities in the second half but just didn't turn them into points.
"We will have all our internationals back for next week and we will start building towards the game at Leeds when we get back together."
Praise for Bristol duo
Meanwhile, Bristol coach Richard Hill hailed the return of Dan Ward-Smith and Shaun Perry as crucial to his side's win and tipped the pair to go on England's summer tour to New Zealand.
"It was a bit of a risk to stick Dan straight back in without giving him an A game as preparation," said Hill. "But for him to come back in straight away and play like that was outstanding.
"Having him and Shaun back playing is a big plus for us and I would back the pair of them to force their way back into the England reckoning for the tour to New Zealand."
Perry was back to his spiky best and Ward-Thomas' ball carrying was exceptional as Bristol scored within 90 seconds of kick-off and led 17-0 at half-time, holding on against a strong wind as the Falcons came back at them.
