Hampstead were beaten 54-7 in their opening London North-West Division Two fixture by newly-promoted Harrow, who look set to challenge at the top of this division as well.

Harrow started strongly, running in two converted tries in the first 10 minutes.

The home team couldn’t get their hands on the ball and, when they did, they tended to overplay and surrender possession.

Individual errors led to further tries and a penalty in the first half as Hampstead went into the break 29-0 down.

They came back strongly in the second half, and a try from prop Fran Fonagy which was converted by Dan Dimoline was a small consolation which at least gave Hampstead something to build on, while they also showed signs of improved fitness and passion from last season.

“We just didn’t show up on the day and let them dominate us from the first whistle,” said head coach Peter Breen. “We have to improve, but I know we will do just that with the squad we’ve got this year.”