Bristol move up to fourth in the Premiership with an emphatic 13-try 85-14 thrashing of winless Newcastle.

Confidence oozed through Bristol who added six more after the break with, Adam Radwan and Brett Connon replying.

The win means Bristol move above Harlequins into the top four by one point, with three games remaining.

The win is also Bristol’s biggest in the Premiership, surpassing the 62-8 victory against Northampton last March, as their late season surge has seen them win their last five matches and they move two points behind third-placed Saracens into the play-off places.

The rampant hosts came out flying, scoring four tries in the first 15 minutes – the fastest Premiership points maximum for 20 years – to set the tempo and another miserable afternoon for the Falcons, who remain with just five points after 15 games.

Siva Naulago raced from inside his own 22, before a one-two with Harry Randall saw him over the line just 86 seconds in.

Lock Dun powered over from close range before Malins added a third, after a lovely pass from Ellis Genge cut through the Newcastle defence.

Newcastle had barely had a touch when Radwan intercepted a long pass and outsprinted Gabriel Ibitoye to put the visitors on the board.

But Bristol retaliated instantly, as Randall took a quick penalty before passing to Magnus Bradbury to score, and centre James Williams added another as the ball came out from a ruck.

Prop Genge scored a stand-out sixth, shrugging out of two tackles, and from the restart the Bears moved the ball the width of the pitch before Janse van Rensburg dived into the corner to make it 47-7 at the break.

Bristol were showcasing their best running rugby, albeit against a depleted Newcastle side without a win on the road since November 2022. Still, the Bears left points on the field as Luatua and Ibitoye saw tries chalked off for errors in the build-up.

Ibitoye set up Randall for the eighth and then Kieron Marmion picked the ball off a maul to score a ninth and while another Newcastle interception – this time from Connon – allowed the Falcons a second try, it was little consolation.

Jake Heenan ran in before a second from Van Rensburg and two from Vakatawa in the closing moments took Bristol past 80 points.

Bristol director of rugby Pat Lam told BBC Radio Bristol:

“The boys have been going hammer and tongs at each other in training, all fighting for places and the pace that we’ve been training was reflected out there.

“I’m really proud of the boys, really pleased for them all.

“We said straight away [from kick-off] we’re straight into our structures and we go from here and score, and the boys did that.

“The big thing that we spoke about at half time was our defence – we gave two tries away which were intercepts, both of them we’d probably score at the other end.

“I’m really pleased all round with the performance.”

Bristol: Malins; Naulago, Janse van Rensburg, Williams, Ibitoye; MacGinty, Randall; Genge, Oghre, Sinckler, Dun, Caulfield, Luatua, Harding (c), Bradbury.

Replacements: Capon, Woolmore, Lahiff, Owen, Heenan, Marmion, Vakatawa, Lane.

Newcastle: Redshaw; Radwan, Spencer, Penny, Stephens; Connon, Stuart; Brocklebank, Blamire, Palframan, Cardall, De Chaves, Van der Walt, Cross, Chick.

Replacements: Byrne, Dormer, Bello, Kelly, Lockwood, Pepper, Jennings, Moroni.

Referee: Luke Pearce