London Welsh head coach Justin Burnell was pleased to see his side disappear back down the M1 with the four points, but won’t be carried away by seeing the Exiles top the table after their 32-27 victory over Rotherham Titans.

The Exiles had to dig deep at Clifton Lane on Saturday as Rotherham crossed three times in the opening 11 minutes.

But a combination of experience, the Welsh forward pack, astute game management and excellent goalkicking saw the away side through.

“It was always going to be a tight game – two teams at the top end of the league. They came at us at a rate of knots,” said Burnell.

“They’ve got a lot of physicality. “But you’ve got to maintain it for 80 minutes. I never thought we were going to lose the game. “They’re a very good side and they put us on the back foot, but it’s about composure and playing rugby in the right areas. “Our game management is good and we’ve got a good work ethic.

“It’s just about ourselves and working hard – too many errors – but another win on the road and very happy.

“It was scrappy, we gifted them three tries – a dropped, a missed tackle, an interception – but they’re a good side and not many sides will want to come here and play going into November and December.”

The win sees Welsh leapfrog the Titans at the top of the Championship table – one point clear of Rotherham – as the league gives way to the B&I Cup for the next two weekends.

But Burnell won’t be reading too much in to the league table.

“It’s not about the placings in the league, it’s about performances for us.

“Our bench once again came on and made massive difference, utilising the squad to its maximum,” he added.