Newcastle coach Alan Tait lashed out at his side after they slipped to a frustrating 23-13 defeat to Exeter on Friday night.
Facons boss does not mince words after defeat to Exeter
Newcastle head coach Alan Tait lashed out at his side after they slipped to a frustrating 23-13 defeat to Exeter on Friday night.
The Aviva Premiership strugglers watched Gareth Steenson kick six penalties, including two late on that denied the home side a losing bonus point at Kingston Park.
And Tait was quick to express his disappointment at the manner of the defeat, saying that the visitors taught his players a lesson with their performance.
"We lost the game and threw away a bonus point," Tait said.
"The players are devastated, I'm devastated. Exeter came up here and gave us a lesson in how to win a game."
The Scot added: "I thought when we scored the try we would kick on and win the game, but we didn't.
Daft
"We kicked badly and gave away daft penalties, some of them from senior and experienced players who should know better, and it was something we talked about all week.
"This is where I'm lost with this group of players. We give them everything, we look after them and we seem to be getting nothing back.
"I keep going to the chairman to get them what they want and there just doesn't seem to be anything coming back in return.
"I'm not saying it's all their fault. We'll have to have a look at our own coaching, but I don't think it's down to that, it's mainly down to the players and the decisions they are making on the field.
"This is the lowest I've ever been in all the time I have been here.
"I want to see some sort of comeback from everyone at the club this coming week and the ball will be put very firmly in their court."
Delighted
Exeter boss Rob Baxter was delighted with the way his side responded after falling behind after James Hudson crossed the try-line to give the hosts the lead in the 61st minute.
Baxter said: "We didn't play too well in the first half but we stayed in touch at 6-6 and the try we scored after theirs was crucial.
"We have a great kick and chase game and we showed that when we charged down the kick and the try wiped theirs away and we controlled the game thereafter.
"We have great work ethic and if you do keep working for 80 minutes you're always in with a chance. We have been playing well for some time now and we're not really concerned about the number of points we have in the league.
"The challenge was beating Quins and then not letting it slip when we came here. It would have been easy to just let it go, but we did come out on the right side of a couple of key moments in the second half."
