Under the Friday night lights and in front of a packed out RAG thanks to phenomenal support for London Scottish’s student night, the stage was set for a fantastic night of rugby. However, Cornish Pirates, travelling all the way up from Penzance were intent on spoiling the party and did just that with a fantastic display of power up front and flair in the backs.

Pirates set the scene in the very first minutes when they got the ascendency at scrum time, something which would continue throughout the game. This coupled with an error ridden performance from the Exiles resulting in a lot of knock ons, created a deadly combination.

London Scottish spent most of the first forty camped out in their own half facing an onslaught from the Pirates attack. Despite spirited defence throughout the Exiles could not prevent the away side from coming away with three tries which led to a half time score of 0-19 to the Pirates.

The second half began to open up more as both sides looked to play with a bit more risk and flair. London Scottish showed flashes of what they could do but were ultimatley let down by their error count which allowed Pirates field position and possesion as the Cornish-based side ran in a further five tries.

The moment of the match came with 20 minutes to play. London Scottish turned the ball over inside their 22 and Luke Mehson was set free. He stood up his opposite number and went round him. He then proceeded to beat three more defenders on his way to an 80m try brining the capacity crowd to its feet.

He was quickly joined on the scoresheet by Will Panday making his first appearance for the Club this season. He found space down the left hand side and put a lovely kick in behind which he regathered himself for the score.

All in all it was a disappointing night out for the Exiles who would have learned a lot from playing a strong Pirates side who they will face in the Championship league curtain raisers in just two weeks time.