Dave Ward insists Harlequins must cut out sloppy errors if they are to move forward as a team this season.

Quins conceded six tries in a 52-24 defeat against Ulster in the European Champions Cup – their second loss in the space of six days against the Irish province.

And the flanker has issued a rallying cry to his teammates to be more consistent as a team as they head to Newcastle Falcons in the Premiership this weekend.

He said: “We have to try to take the positives going forward but we also have to address the fact that we let in three tries in the first phase of play – that cannot happen again, especially when we go up to Newcastle.”

Quins went in at half-time 16-12 down but four second-half tries from Ulster secured a comfortable victory.

This was a fourth straight defeat in the competition for Quins but Ward believes there are positives to take from the contest at the Kingspan Stadium.

He said: “At half-time, I really thought we were going to give them a run for their money. The boys showed a lot of effort but in the end, we just made some simple errors. We didn’t work very hard for three of their tries, which didn’t help our cause.

“There’s not many teams that come to Ulster and score four tries but defensively, it doesn’t look good. The energy was there, the effort was there, but it was just the individual errors has cost us the result.”

Ward added: “The fans were fantastic. Some of the fans would’ve booked tickets in July when the fixtures came out and all credit to them for coming. We gave it everything for the fans. We wanted to do a job for them.

“I’m sure it was an enjoyable game for the neutral and even the Quins fans to see us score a few tries. I have to thank to them for showing so much support.”