OUR two title favourites retained their relentless march towards silverware last Saturday as both London Irish and Rams picked up useful home wins.

Young wing Ollie Hassell-Collins ran in two of Exiles' eight tries as they eased past Coventry 52-22, staying nine points clear of Ealing Trailfinders at the top of the Greene King IPA Championship with seven games to go.

This Sunday, Declan Kidney's men will hope to keep alive their dreams of a double when Yorkshire Carnegie visit Madejski Stadium in the RFU Championship Cup semi-final.

Meanwhile, Rams roared into a 31-0 National Two South lead against Old Redcliffians, only for the Bristolians to fightback with three tries of their own in a 31-15 reverse.

Having lost their club record-winning streak at Tonbridge Juddians the week before, head coach Seb Reynolds was delighted with a bonus-point win which keeps them 12 clear of Canterbury with eight matches of the 30 remaining.

It's one of the most gruelling competitions in the country, but fingers crossed Rams can build another strong run to seal the promotion deal, starting at Dings Crusaders on Saturday, March 2.

As for our other sides, it was a bad weekend at the office as they all lost narrowly.

That included my boys Reading, who lost 23-22 at home to Aylesbury in Southern Counties North.

It was frustrating as we outscored them four tries to two, but their accuracy from the kicking tee proved decisive in the end.

With no game this weekend, we can sit back and watch the Six Nations ahead of a trip to Bicester the following Saturday.

There was similar frustration for Reading Abbey up at Rose Hill, where they were edged out 27-25.

Luke Harding's men sit seventh in the table and under no threat of relegation, returning to action at Aylesbury at the start of next month.

Meanwhile, Berkshire Shire Hall were leapfrogged by Phoenix into third in the BB&O Championship, the Slough-based side winning 19-7.

They now wait for their next set of fixtures to be released as all eight teams in the division have played their original 14 games.