Within a season of forgettable matches, Sunday was yet another of these occasions for Newcastle Falcons. Their 85-14 drilling by Bristol Bears summed up the impossibly steep hill that the northeast side finds themselves at the foot of.

Currently sitting on the basement floor of a Premiership table without bottom rungs, Newcastle headed into the weekend’s game without so much as a hope, let alone a prayer. As it transpired, even if Steve Diamond’s men possessed either of these entities, the men in green and white stood no chance.

A work of art🖼

Siva Naulago starts and finishes a @BristolBears beauty 🐻

Watch live on @rugbyontnt 📺#GallagherPrem | #BRIvNEW pic.twitter.com/X8R9yaidAq

— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) April 21, 2024

Conceding their fourth try within just 15 minutes of play ensured Ashton Gate became the location of two new records, eventually becoming Bristol’s largest-ever Premiership victory, but also marking the fastest time in 20 years that a team has reached maximum points in a match.

If Diamond’s men knew what was coming next they might have elected to end the game right there and then, but the struggling XV banded together in an effort to redeem a match that threatened to run away from them. Despite their gallant attempt, the end result did just that.

“GENGE with the step” 💨@EllisGenge extending @BristolBears lead with an incredible try 💥🏉#BRIvNEW | #GallagherPrem pic.twitter.com/LbbulKzRyV

— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) April 21, 2024

After the match, Steve Diamond had the following to say about his teams efforts:

“I thought we had taken a couple of steps forward over the last month, but that was certainly a step back. It gives us a line in the sand. We never touched the ball for the first 15 minutes and they were 21 points up. We didn’t get off the bus at all. It was not a positive vibe.

“All we can do is take them back home and get them ready for Sale next week. I said when I came back in that we would have three or four games and I would be making decisions, and that is what we will do. It’s a tough world out there and we are obviously not up to it in certain areas, which was evident today.”

Bears director of rugby, Pat Lam, was understandably pleased with his teams efforts, adding:

“The boys have been going hammer and tongs at each other in training, all fighting for places and the pace that we’ve been training was reflected out there. I’m really proud of the boys, really pleased for them all.

“We said straight away, we’re straight into our structures and we go from here and score, and the boys did that.

“The big thing that we spoke about at half time was our defence – we gave two tries away which were intercepts, both of them we’d probably score at the other end. I’m really pleased all round with the performance.”

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