IT was another good week for London Irish as they made it three Greene King IPA Championship wins from three with a convincing 29-20 success against Bedford Blues, securing a winning bonus point thanks to two tries from man-of-the-match Tom Parton as well as further scores from Stephen Myler, Dave Porecki and Tom Stephenson.

Declan Kidney's men didn't have it all their own way, though, as they were reduced to 13 men in the closing stages with Harry Elrington sin-binned before TJ Iaone was sent off for a dangerous tackle, and while this made for a tense finish, Exiles underlined their character when their backs were against the wall.

That can only be a good sign as they bid to bounce back to the top flight at the first time of asking, with their next port of call a trip to face Coventry on Saturday.

A couple of divisions down and it was a disappointing weekend for a slightly understrength Rams, who lost their perfect record with an 18-10 setback at Old Albanians.

It was a miserable day for rugby and they'll hope with the forecast set fairer for this Saturday they can return to winning ways in what looks an early-season epic at home to second-placed Bury St Edmunds.

Both sides have been tipped for big things this year – they are a point behind Taunton Titans – and I'm sure with another big crowd behind them, Seb Reynolds' boys will put in a big performance.

It should be a cracker to watch, but I've got a feeling Rams' powerhouse pack will win enough ball to enable them to get the victory.

Elsewhere on the local front this Saturday, it’s the first of this season's Southern Counties North derby tussles with Reading Abbey hosting my boys Reading at Rosehill.

The two sides first met in a league fixture in the 1987/88 season – the first of league rugby – which Reading won, and we went on to win the next six games between the clubs as well.

Abbey finally got a draw in the eighth derby and beat us 9-8 at their place in 2016/17. They also accounted for us 8-7 last year, so while we've won 10 of the 13 league games between the sides, we owe them one on Saturday!

Neither team have kicked off the new season in great style, although Abbey have won once, but hopefully if we maintain the kind of dominance the pack has shown so far and improve our defence we'll come away with a first victory.

Lastly, fingers crossed Berkshire Shire Hall can respond to their 79-5 drubbing at Abingdon on Saturday.

After two straight wins, Matt Margot's men had a bad day at the office, but hopefully they can rectify that against Aldermaston on Saturday.