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Newcastle boss Steve Bates accepts next month's showdown with Bristol could prove "a significant game" in the fight for Guinness Premiership survival.

And Friday the 13th is an appropriate date, given the potentially chilling fall-out - National League One rugby next season - for the Memorial Stadium losers.

The Premiership reached its halfway stage with Newcastle and Bristol confirming their status as comfortably the competition's worst two teams.

The Falcons crashed 48-8 against leaders London Irish while Bristol lost 30-8 to Northampton at Franklin's Gardens, leaking 10 tries between them and scoring just two.

Irish claimed four touchdowns during 18 devastating first-half minutes at the Madejski Stadium, illustrating Newcastle's rudderless state without injured talisman Jonny Wilkinson.

The Falcons last won a Premiership away game in December 2007, which hardly augers well for the trip to Bristol.

"It could end up being a significant game," acknowledged Bates.

"It is perplexing that we don't seem to put in the same level of performances away from home, but we will keep plugging away and stay as positive as we can.

"Irish were the best side we have played all season. Things went pretty much perfectly for them - they had a great day."

Irish's mesmeric 15-man handling game was underlined through their seven tries being scored by seven different players - wing Topsy Ojo, flankers Steffon Armitage and Declan Danaher, full-back Peter Hewat, prop Alex Corbisiero, centre Seilala Mapusua and 37-year-old substitute back Mike Catt.

But it was fly-half Shane Geraghty who pressed claims for Six Nations in front of watching England attack coach Brian Smith.

Irish head coach Toby Booth said: "For me, that's the best Shane has played this season.

"He brought his game-control and his individual brilliance. He asked a lot of questions in attack."

Bristol head coach Richard Hill admitted his team's Premiership prospects look bleak after Saints left them three points adrift at the basement.

"We have been playing to about 50% of our potential, and we are going to have to start to play better at some stage," said Hill.

"We've shown glimpses of it, but until we make a significant improvement and get to where we know we can play, it's going to be a very worrying second half of the season.

"I just know how well we can play, and at the moment we're not transferring the training work we do on to the pitch.

"I am looking at how we planned to play, and I genuinely couldn't see anything we practised to do against Northampton.

"There were a whole host of things we said we were going to do, and we didn't do it. It gets very frustrating."

To compound Hill's misery, former England hooker Mark Regan could be sidelined for up to six weeks after suffering a calf muscle injury.

SportingLife / Eurosport