Blacks co-coach Mick Hickling said it was a difficult game to watch as the Blacks continually turned ball over and struggled to build any pressure on Southern Beaches.

Hickling said the 37-17 score was a true reflection of the game as the Blacks offence and defence broke down.

“We’re going to have to get back to basics at training, because we need to address the basic errors which crept in over the past few weeks and were blatant on Saturday,” Hickling said.

“We couldn’t get beyond four or five phases before we handed possession back to the opposition.

“There were glimpses of it against University but we were able to get out of trouble. Against Lake Macquarie we had plenty of chances to ice the match, but were unable to convert them due to errors and it cost us a win we should have banked.

“This time we made basic errors in offence but our defence was right down as well. We’d been able to claw our way back into games on the back of our defence, but we were poor in all facets of the game.”

Hickling said training would be back to the basics this week and concentrate on trying to inject some enthusiasm back into the squad.

“The boys were livid with themselves about how we played. The challenge is to turn that around on the track and be up and firing for Wanderers on Saturday,” he said.

The Blacks are fourth on the ladder.