London Welsh try-machine Errie Claassens insists he will respond to the challenge laid down by the club’s new speedsters.

Old Deer Park new boys Josh Drauniniu and Liam Gibson - with five and three league tries respectively to their names already - have thrown down the gauntlet since their arrival But last season’s top try-scorer has fought back with two tries of his own against Plymouth Albion and in last week’s 39-10 win over former club Rotherham Titans.

That six-try demolition was Welsh’s second consecutive bonus-point win at home and moved the Exiles up to third in the table, and Claassens is looking for a repeat performance at Esher on Friday.

“It’s always good to play in front of your home crowd, but good teams need to be able to get results when they go away from home,” said the winger, who was named in Rugby Times’ Championship team of the season.

“It’s a derby so we know it’s going to be tough and a hard game to play, but we want to show that we want to go up and if we want to do that we need to be consistent and get results week in and week out.”

Welsh will be keen to at least match their last meeting with Esher at Moseley Road in April 2009 when the Exiles came out on top 32-21.

Esher, meanwhile, may have lost on their last three outings, but their round two victory at home to Bristol is more than enough to ensure that Welsh will be taking nothing for granted.

“In this league you have to respect every team – every week there are surprises because there are no easy games,” Claassens added.

“It’s going to be hard and physical and we know they’re going to really come out and throw everything at us.

“They are a good team, especially if you allow them to play, but we just need to do our jobs well and be more clinical than them. And if we do that then hopefully we can get a good result.”

Welsh flew out of the blocks against Rotherham last Saturday with Claassens setting the tone with his first minute try, and Welsh had the bonus-point wrapped up before half-time on their way to a 39-10 win.

“That’s the type of rugby we play and we want to make it exciting for the supporters - a fast game plan,” he added.

“We knew they were going to be physical; they’re a good team and they’d had good results so far this season. It just showed how well we can play and what good results we can get if we get things right on the day.”

“We were very clinical, especially in the first half. We just outplayed them and didn’t give them time to get back into the game.”

Welsh’s next three games: Oct 1 Esher (a), 9 Doncaster (h), 16 Moseley (a).