BATH director of rugby Todd Blackadder apologised to the club's fans after an error-strewn performance ended in a 29-12 defeat at Newcastle Falcons.

Three tries down by half-time, Bath conceded a fourth and a bonus point to the Falcons after the break and Blackadder was at a loss to explain why his side were so poor just a week after their comprehensive win against Northampton.

"I can only apologise to our fans who made the journey up to Newcastle," said Blackadder. "They are fantastic supporters and they back the team really well and the team let the supporters down tonight right across the board.

"It's just really disappointing. We actually started OK but then gave away so many penalties - eight in the first half - and there were 21 turnovers in the entire game.

"You're just not going to win when you do that and it's just simple basics.

"We just didn't look intelligent, we didn't look smart. You don't start well and you're just not on the front foot and it's a long way back from there."

Bath also suffered a worrying injury to fly-half Freddie Burns.

"It doesn't look good," admitted Blackadder. "When it rains, it pours."

For Newcastle, it was bounce back after their defeat at Saracens and a taste of revenge for defeat at Bath in the Anglo Welsh Cup.

And director of rugby Dean Richards admitted his players were not happy after their win because they conceded two tries, with Cooper Vuna and Anthony Perenise crossing for the visitors.

"The boys have come off the pitch and they're not happy because we have conceded two soft tries - that's a measure of how far this squad have come.

"They felt they didn't get out of second gear consistently and had they done so they might have been happier, but we did get the five point bonus and did the double over Bath.

"However, they really are upset about the two soft tries given what they aspire to and when they did get out of second gear, we look a very good side. We just have to do that for 80 minutes and we will at some stage.

"We scored three very good tries and Niki Goneva's second half try was unbelievable.

"Don't get me wrong, we're delighted with the win but the boys are a little bit upset they didn't perform as well as they could have."