It was a day to forget for London Scottish as they slipped to defeat in the first round of the Champ Rugby relegation play offs to old rivals Richmond.

Scottish started the brighter of the two sides but were unable to make the most of chances early. Conversely, Richmond hit the Exiles with a one-two punch of two tries from short range, sandwiched by a Josh Bellamy penalty.

The exiles battled hard to the half with two men in the bin and camped on their line. Keeping the score at 12-3 Scottish turned around with the wind at their backs hoping for a change in fortunes.

An early Bellamy penalty in the second half and some strong phaseplay gave the Exiles faithful hope but more penalties and ill discipline gave Richmond the way back into the Scottish half.

Taking their chances expertly Scottish found themselves with a mountain to climb and a game to chase. They began this well with a lovely score from Theo Povey in the corner but it wasn’t enough to surmount the gap.

Richmond grabbed one more try at the death to seal the result, leaving London Scottish with a do or die clash with another London Club in Blackheath next Saturday.