Opposition view: Ward feels Falcons let Saints 'off the hook'

Falcons were beaten 38-13 at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens, but they certainly had their chances during the first period and were only 14-13 down at one stage.

Saints pulled away with 24 unanswered points as the Falcons fell to their 12th defeat in as many Gallagher Premiership matches this season.

And Ward said: “The final score doesn’t lie, but we let them off the hook in the first half.

“We left a couple of tries out there and I believe we were the better side up to the interval and should have been ahead at half-time.

“We had a lot of entries into their 22 and were held up over their line but we need to be more clinical.

“We then started chasing the game and went off script so it was difficult for us to recover.”

Newcastle have recently appointed former Sale and Worcester boss Steve Diamond as their new consultant director of rugby and he starts work at Kingston Park on Monday.

Ward said: “Steve doesn’t mess about and is not elaborate.

“He will want to start with a simple game plan and put that in place as a foundation.

“The break in the Premiership has come at the right time as it will be a fresh start for us as the players will want the chance to impress the new guy.”