Oxfordshire got their County Championship Shield Pool 1 campaign off to a flier with a 54-15 demolition of East Midlands at Northampton Casuals RFC.

The visitors ran in eight tries, with eight different scorers, in a dominant display.

Head coach Richard Will-iams said: “It was a very good collective performance.

“The players really bought into the game plan and scored some excellent tries.

“The other pleasing aspect was the defence of the whole team. It is testament to the hard work and high skill levels of the players after only coming together last week.”

Chinnor and Oxford Harlequins each contributed three tries to Oxon’s tally, with captain Matt Hutchings, Sam Stoop, James Serrano crossing for the former and Morgan Cross, Tim Knapp and Ryan Newman for Quins.

Oxford University’s Canadian international Stan McKeen and Rich Lea (Oxford Brookes) grabbed the other tries, with Chinnor fly half James Cathcart kicking seven out of eight conversions.

Williams added: “We will face a tough game next week against Leicestershire who beat Essex comfortably in the other league game.”

The Leicestershire match is at Hinckley RFC on Saturday.