Newcastle Falcons director of rugby Dean Richards has admitted his frustration at seeing his side throw away a lead to draw 23-23 with Wasps in the Aviva Premiership.

The Falcons led 23-16 with a quarter of an hour left at Kingston Park last night before the visitors struck late to claim a share of the spoils.

Richards believes that his players need to learn how to close out matches if they want to improve.

"I think we're frustrated because we gifted them three tries," he is quoted as saying by the News Post Leader. "We're going in the right direction but we have to learn to shut other sides down as well as being able to score tries.

"It was a win lost rather than a draw gained in my eyes. We don't seem to have the patience in defence that we have in attack and we will talk about that, but there were a lot of positives from the game."

Newcastle continue their league campaign next Saturday when they make the trip to Saracens.