Eves joined Newcastle from Bristol during the summer

Newcastle Falcons centre Luke Eves has revealed he has relished his return to top-flight rugby following his summer move to Kingston Park from Bristol.

Eves, 21, left his home-town club after missing out on promotion in Bristol's play-off defeat by Exeter in May.

Eves told BBC Newcastle: "I'm really enjoying it but there's a massive difference to the Championship.

"The Premiership is so much faster, and I've really relished the challenge of stepping back up to this level again."

Eves made his Premiership debut for Bristol in their defeat at Leicester Tigers in April 2008 - going on to score ten tries in 59 appearances at the Memorial Stadium.

Falcons are currently involved in the European Challenge Cup, with a visit to Montpellier on Thursday for Alan Tait's side.

Tait has selected an inexperienced line-up for the trip to the South of France, and Eves has called on the club's young players to make the most of the experience.

"We're under no illusions how hard it's going to be, the crowds are different over there, they get on your back and they're louder," Eves added.

"There's a few lads who won't have played in France or this competition.

"It's a great opportunity for those lads and for the team to put another good performance in.

"I went over [to France] with Bristol in the Challenge Cup and we beat Toulon over there, which was a good experience for the team, and for me."

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