LONDON Welsh head coach Justin Burnell remained defiant despite seeing his side lose 23-3 at home to Aviva Premiership relegation rivals Newcastle Falcons, writes ED MEZZETTI.

Saturday’s defeat at Oxford’s Kassam Stadium left Welsh eight points adrift of safety, but Burnell felt there was still hope for the Exiles.

“I don’t think the league was decided today,” he said. “There are 16 games to go.

“The one thing we have got is a lot of spirit and fight.

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“I am never one to shy away from a fight.

“It would be quite easy to say we haven’t got this or we haven’t got that and that it’s not a level playing field.

“We can all talk and make excuses.

“We are in the league, we have got to fight and we have got to look at every opportunity and every option we can to stay here.”

Burnell added: “Every loss is a disappointment.

“After last week’s performance against Harlequins, it was a vast improvement by us.

“Obviously, we will get measured on the result, but it was an improvement.

“We played for 80 minutes this week, but when you look at the second half, Newcastle came into our half once and scored a try.

“With the amount of possession and territory we did have in that second period, we didn’t capitalise on it.

“That’s the next process. It is a massive learning curve.”

No 8 Chris Hala’ufia did at least excel in a losing cause and Welsh hope to extend his initial two-week loan from Llanelli Scarlets.

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