Richards laments missed chances

NEWCASTLE director of rugby, Dean Richards, bemoaned his side’s failure to take their opportunities.

“We didn’t expect to go 28-7 down so early on as we missed tackles for three of their four tries and that wasn’t good enough,” he said. “We left four or five good opportunities out there but they are a good side and certainly knew how to take theirs.

“Had we taken our chances, it might have been a different game but the boys did well to get right back into what was a see-saw match.”

Bristol DoR Pat Lam said: “Our discipline was poor as we gave away so many penalties and despite the scoreline in our favour we knew Newcastle would never give up.

“The two yellow cards just before half-time was obviously a problem but we said at the interval that we needed to take control for that sin-bin period, which I thought we did well and the players have to take credit for that.

“It’s our four bonuspoint win on the trot so that will give us a lot of confidence and hopefully we can launch our season from here.”