Inspired by England's forgotten man Steffon Armitage watching from the sideline, East London 1st XV got their Essex League 1 campaign off to a winning start by beating Bancroft 41-14 at the Memorial Ground in West Ham on Saturday.
Tries by skipper Nick Parrott and scrum-half Daryl O'Brien gave the home side the perfect start within 30 minutes. Both tries were converted by fly-half Ryan Billinghurst who also added a penalty kick three minutes later.
Shortly before the break a kick through by full back Adam Brown was chased by right winger Kwesi Scantlebury who outpaced the last Bancroft defender to touch down. The conversion was missed to leave the score 22-0 at the break.
Bancroft narrowed the gap soon after the restart with a converted try, but on 66 minutes East London centre Kenton Stanford bulldozed his way over the try line and Billinghurst converted.
Five minutes later winger Tom Little intercepted a Bancroft attack close to his own 22-metre line and then raced the length of the pitch for a try that Billinghurst converted. Little scored again soon after when he chased a kick through from O'Brien to touch down. The conversion was missed. At the death Bancroft scored a consolation converted try.
Having scored enough tries to claim the extra winning bonus point the win put East London into second place in the league behind neighbours Ilford who they visit on Saturday. Coach Gary Pearmain said: "This was a solid win to start our league season."
East London 1st XV vs Bancroft: 1 Gary Pearmain 2 Will Masters 3 Paddy Coman 4 Vinny Lally 5 Matthew Schofield 6 Brian Kennedy 7 Nick Parrott 8 Rob Herbert 9 Daryl O'Brien 10 Ryan Billinghurst 11 Tom Little 12 Kenton Stanford 13 Roman Gogjila 14 Kwesi Scantlebury 15 Adam Brown. Replacements: Eoin Kelly, Sam Corbett, Paul Arkwright.

East London's second team the Wyverns earned a last minute 10-10 draw at the Memorial Ground against Thurrock 2s thanks to a penalty kick from Jacob Williams.
Earlier forward Dan Roach-Williams had given the home side the lead with a try that was converted by Williams, only for Thurrock to go ahead with ten minutes remaining. East London's 4th team were also winners with a 60-0 win away at Runwell.

East London Ladies thumped local rivals Hackney 42-5 at the Memorial Ground on Sunday in a match reduced to 12-a-side when the visitors failed to bring enough players.
Aoife Scully, Amanda Farrow (2), Aoife Farrell (2), Tamsin Nooney and Ciara Baxter scored tries for the dominant home side. Remaining points were kicked by Sam Leetch. Try of the match was an individual effort from fly-half Farrow who collected the ball in her own half and outpaced the entire Hackney defence to touch down under the posts.