Tait insists the Falcons must kick on from their victory over Bristol © Getty Images

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Newcastle assistant coach Alan Tait has warned his Falcons charges that last week's victory at Bristol will be almost worthless if they fail to back it up next time out against Saracens.

Sarries visit Kingston Park for Friday's Guinness Premiership clash (kick-off 8pm), with Newcastle keen to build on the momentum of their 35-3 victory at Bristol seven days earlier.

"We had the video session this morning, and it's good to be showing them some positive stuff for a change," said Tait, the dual-code British Lion and Scotland international

"They've stuck together as a group, they're working hard and we were really pleased with a lot of what we saw on Friday. That's not to say we're the finished product by any means, it's only one game, but to score four tries to none away from home is a great effort in anyone's book.

"As coaches we had been working hard on some very specific things which came to fruition at Bristol and it was good to see the players' efforts rewarded, especially in a pressure match like that. We'd been so close in so many games, Worcester and Wasps spring to mind, so to see it all come off was a fantastic feeling."

Adding a note of caution, however, Tait said, "It's no use having one good performance and then falling away in your next game - we've got to back it up against Saracens on Friday or else the Bristol game was effectively meaningless. I'm really looking for the boys to be right up there because, let's not beat about the bush, Saracens will be a much tougher test than last weekend."

Revealing the renewed focus in his squad after back-to-back Guinness Premiership wins over Gloucester and Bristol, Tait said, "In a strange sort of way I would actually like to thank London Irish, because the two games we've played against them this season gave the players a massive reality check in terms of how far away we are from being a top-level team.

"We were totally humiliated down there in Reading. It was absolutely brutal, men against boys, but to be fair the players took it on the chin and their attitude since has been spot-on.

"They're working hard every single day in training and I feel like we're making progress in these last two months, but to see the class and physicality of London Irish was a real eye-opener for some of these guys and just showed how much ground we have to make up if we want to be among the top teams.

"For too many years 'change' has been a dirty word at Newcastle Falcons, but we're now finally emerging out of that comfort zone. We still have a very long way to go, and it will take time, but I can sense a real change in attitude about the place which is a massively imporant starting point for us."

Turning attention towards Saracens, Tait believes a much sterner test awaits his troops at Kingston Park.

"We've watched a lot of them on video, and they are a team that can hurt you. In the defence session today we had our second team backs running the Saracens moves against the side which will start on Friday, and like any team coached by Eddie Jones they are really meticulous in their detail.

"The chat from the boys in training has been that if Sarries execute these moves well on Friday then they will be extremely tough to defend against, because the lines of running and decoys they use can ask a lot of questions of a defence. They have great generals in Glen Jackson and Justin Marshall, but saying that we've prepared well for this game and we feel there are some areas where we can make inroads.

"They lost last week at Northampton, but when you watch the tape they actually played pretty well. They had an early try chalked off for a bit of a block, and if that had been allowed to stand then you have a totally different complexion on the game. Their defence is very well organised and won't be easy for us to break down, so I'm looking forward to seeing how the boys respond to that challenge."