Tempers flared during the Falcons's 22-16 defeat of Bourgoin in the European Challenge Cup

Newcastle Falcons head coach Alan Tait believes Thursday's 22-16 European Challenge Cup win against Bourgoin has exposed his side's lack of discipline.

Tait's side were made to pay throughout the win, with nine of the French side's 16 points coming from penalties given away by the Falcons.

"We did give some silly penalties away," Tait told BBC Newcastle.

"It's a learning curve but we've got to get this discipline right and we've all got to get our behaviour right."

Tait added: "When we start cutting these easy things out of our game and taking these chances, we'll be very difficult to beat."

The line-up for the visit of Bourgoin was described by Tait as "experimental", with eight changes to the group that lost 23-12 at Harlequins in the Premiership on Saturday.

Development squad players Luke Eves, Joe Graham and Mark Wilson rubbed shoulders with first-teamers Ally Hogg, Jeremy Manning and Micky Young.

"You can't knock it, we said we're experimenting, I wanted to give the whole squad a run, but there are no weak French sides," Tait continued.

"When they rolled up tonight I thought 'it's going to be tough for those youngsters', but they stuck to the task and played some good rugby.

"This is the spirit of this team, they're always happy to play rugby and throw the ball about and I back them, I've got to let them get out there."

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