Rosslyn Park went fifth in the table as they continued title favourites London Scottish’s pain on Saturday.

The Scots had lost their first two games and were suffering from injuries in their backs although Park themselves were without an entire three-quarter line.

The only back not injured from Park’s promotion winning squad was full-back Richard Davies – and he was having to replace ace goal kicker Ross Laidlaw at fly half.

Scots soon had Park pinned back, and won a penalty which Lee Cholewa kicked for 3-0 after 3 minutes. If Park were being forced to defend, they coped well and looked sharp in attack, gaining a penalty of their own on 11 minutes, but Davies took a while to find his shooting boots.

A further penalty to Scots from around the 10 metre line saw Cholewa kick his team 6-0 ahead.

Park had by now forced their way into the match, playing a combination of attritional and running rugby that had the visitors at full stretch, soon forcing another penalty which again went begging. Scots were having to spoil excessively to keep Park at bay, and their lock Peter Elder was dispatched to the sin bin.

Park missed the resulting penalty, but hit Scots with a period of relentless pressure that ripped them apart.

A series of pick-and-drives and mauls from the forwards, allied to smart handling from the backs ended with prop Nick Huggett going over. Davies’ successful conversion – far more difficult than the penalties that preceded it – put his side ahead by 7-6 after 27 minutes.

Scots were now under the cosh and Park gained another super try when Ollie Lyndsey-Hague (moved to full-back to cover for Davies) made a super run up the left and chipped ahead to the in-goal area where centre Charlie Gower outpaced the defence to touch down wide on the left for 12-7.

No sooner were Scots back to full-strength than Park struck again with a sweeping move that saw flanker Joe Burton use his strength and speed to go in at the corner for 17-6. Park were now playing some scintillating attacking rugby and gained another penalty which Davies hammered over to stretch the lead to 20-6.

Into injury time Scots had a rare raid into home territory, gained a penalty and appeared to make a mess of a quick tap before being invited to take it again. Wiser counsels prevailed and Cholewa bisected the posts for 20-9 at the interval, scant reward for Park’s dominance but they had failed thus far to kick their chances.

Scots started the second half as if they might have had a roasting in the dressing room. But it was Park who got the first score, skipper Mark Lock keeping faith with his kicker and Davies rewarding him with a superb long range penalty for 23-9.

The visitors were enjoying a brief resurgence, gained a penalty in front of the posts which they ran and clawed their way over the line. Lock Andrew Newman claimed the try and Cholewa’s conversion brought his team right back into contention at 23-16.

Park had temporarily lost some of their fluency, but drove back at Scots to force a scrum in front of the posts. Some sterling work from the visitors saw them take it against the head and Park conceded a penalty that allowed them to clear. Their respite was only temporary as a cracking run by Charlie Gower set up a 3 man overlap that saw Chris Lewis go in, Davies converting for 30-16.

With Coach Simon Amor having used his full raft of replacements to try to get back into the match, a further injury added to their woes by having to finish with 14 men.

Another super Park “try” up the left was disallowed for a foot in touch, but they would not be denied. Nev Edwards, substituting for John Rudd, made a strong run with his first touch of the ball that resulted in Davies making a break to send in Steve Pape, Davies converting for 37-16.

Great play from lock Joe Launchbury saw the lock do a chip and charge, that only a back should be capable of, to create further mayhem in the visiting defence. It looked as if Edwards had scored, but it was ruled out for a forward movement and Park had to settle for 37-16.

It was a superb all-round performance by Park. By the end, Scots looked to be bereft of ideas and, truth be told, spirit.

Park: Lindsay-Hague; Parsons, Gower, Lewis, Rudd (Edwards); Davies; Baxter (Holmes); Huggett, Tauialo (Gotting), Collier (Mines); Quigley (Pape), Launchbury; Burton, Barrett, Lock.

Park scorers: Huggett (T), Gower (T), Burton (T), Lewis (T), Davies (2P, 3C)