Stedman makes an impact

Ollie Stedman certainly made the most of his opportunity on Sunday at Old Deer Park. Recalled to the bench after lining out for Rosslyn Park against Loughborough Students the previous week, Stedman powered over twice for the Exiles in their 42-18 win over Moseley.

It took the back row forward's try scoring tally for Welsh to eight in 18 appearances, before the former England Under 20 international hot-footed it to Twickenham to see Stuart Lancaster's side beat Wales.

"It went pretty well when I came on. Luckily a few holes opened up for me and the boys put me through them,” said Stedman. "It was good to get my hands on the ball, get back in the side and make a positive contribution."

"We've signed a few new boys and everyone is competing really hard. If you have a bad game you're out pretty much - it's pretty simple. Justin likes competition to be high so everyone's got to perform every week."

"It was very useful to get 80 minutes under my belt [for Rosslyn Park], it was really good to get some game time and just get back on the pitch. It probably helped me in my performance [v Moseley]."

Welsh's win over Moseley was their third straight bonus point victory, a run yielding 17 tries in all.

"When the summer starts coming points then to be a lot higher and you can play a lot more rugby, and it tends to be a more exciting game to watch. We've got to tighten up the errors in defence but keep scoring the points,” said Stedman, who joined Welsh last year from Newcastle Falcons."

"We conceded a few soft tries, our defence wasn't up to the expectations we normally have, so we've a few things to work on there. But hot weather and a firm deck, there's always going to be tries scored, and we outscored them.”

With just five games to go in the regular Greene King IPA Championship season for Welsh now, the push for promotion is on as the season builds towards its climax.

"We're closing in on it but we're still trying to pace ourselves. It is getting towards the business end of the season and we need to keep our form high, keep winning and hopefully it rolls into the play-offs,” he added.

The former Leeds Carnegie forward is now targeting a place in Justin Burnell's starting line for the trip to Cornish Pirates on Sunday. With both Bristol and Leeds not in action, it's a chance for the Exiles to close the gap at the top.

"That's the aim, but I'll have to see what he big man says. It's up to him [Burnell],” he said.