Cornish Pirates suffer 40-7 loss at Newcastle - their biggest defeat since December 2017

Javier Rojas Alvarez's try was the only time the Pirates broke through Newcastle's defence

Cornish Pirates director of rugby Chris Stirling says his side were "well beaten" as they lost 40-7 at Championship leaders Newcastle Falcons.

The Pirates were 26-0 down at half-time as Adam Radwan, Mike Daniels, Sonatane Takulua and Sinoti Sinoti all crossed.

Callum Chick inflicted further damage after the break before Javier Rojas Alvarez pulled a try back before Radwan got his second with five minutes left.

It was Pirates' biggest defeat since a 56-19 loss at Bristol in December 2017.

"We were well beaten by a pretty clinical Falcons team who came out of the blocks and really put us to the sword in the first 20 minutes with three tries," Stirling told BBC Radio Cornwall.

"The second half we performed a lot better and we played a lot better into the breeze.

"We'll go home, we'll lick our wounds and we'll prepare for a cup quarter-final next weekend," added Stirling.

"The boys will be feeling it, we'll just regroup."

The Pirates remain in third place in the Championship, 18 points behind Newcastle who have won all 13 of their games - nine of them with bonus points.