If Winchester thought their result against Barnes the previous week was a good omen, a rampant Richmond brought them down to earth with a serious bump - thrashing them 75-5 at Nuns Road.

Andover are also struggling at the wrong end of the table, going down 27-15 to Tunbridge Wells while Portsmouth let Beckenham hack a great chance of going second from their grasp, resigning them to mid-table instead.

"We threw it away," said coach Ian Chandler after seeing the Kent side score in the final few minutes following a wayward long pass had gone loose. "We took a few wrong options and had the chance to win the game, but didn't," Chandler added.