JUSTIN Burnell says London Welsh must now retain the standards they showed in thrashing Rotherham.

The Exiles’ head coach felt Sunday’s 47-16 victory, which propelled his side back to the top of the Greene King IPA Championship, was their best display of the season.

And having shown what they can do, Burnell wants Welsh to keep imposing themselves.

“I think the teams in the league are always wary of London Welsh because of what you saw on Sunday,” he said.

“We have got a decent pack of forwards that win possession and we have got enough pace in the wide channels to score tries.

Oxford Mail:

Justin Burnell

“What we have got to do now is maintain the consistency. That’s got to be the biggest thing for me.”

Having struggled to win emphatically in recent weeks, the Exiles showed their all-round threat, with their seven tries coming from all quarters against Rotherham.

“That is what we have been trying to get to,” said Burnell.

“I have always said we have got to be more expansive and that’s what we did against Rotherham.

“It was a good performance, but there is still a long way to go.”

Prop James Tideswell, who scored a memorable ‘show and go’ try against Rotherham, agreed.

He said: “I think we can go up another couple of levels. We can just build from there really.”

Tideswell showed his pace and scrummaging power against Rotherham, but knows he is far from guaranteed a starting spot.

He said: “We have got six props here and we have definitely got at least two packs that you can put against each other.

“It’s always competitive each week at training and whatever pack they put on the pitch normally does a job.

“We have confidence in our teammates around us and it’s just a case of whoever Justin decides to pick.

“If you play well one week, you keep your spot. If you play badly, you go to the back of the pack.”

Could scoring a try like that help Tideswell stay in the team?

“Hopefully!” he said. “It is not all about scoring tries.

“The set piece is the most important thing and then defence.

“It just showed against Rotherham that when our set-piece works, how much easier life can be.”