Bournemouth Director Of Rugby Will Croker said his backs division really came to the party in their 54-14 bonus-point win over Cleve.

With the Lions’ dominant scrum taking all of the headlines so far this season -providing a solid platform from which to build from - it was the turn of the guys behind the scrum to take the plaudits.

A total of six of the seven tries which were eventually scored against tenth team Cleve came from the quicker lads, and Croker said they matched the bigger boys up front.

He said: “The scrum has been very good for us all year and we have worked hard on it, but the backs really came to the party today.

“They have got such good skill sets that they can all run and pass off of both hands equally well and there was some real invention and also that energy to get through the gain line.

“When you look at the depth that we have got and that means that very often the best defensive set up that our first team have got to run against is against our second team.

“You have got to be good to get into our Second team because our Third team have just beaten Dorset Dockers 20-12 and they have got guys who have played first-team rugby in that side so the backs have really come to the party with the strength in depth of our squad.”

It was not all about the quick guys though with tight-head prop Luca Firetto crossing for the all-important bonus-point try just before half-time.

His front row colleague Joe Tarrant then withstood three punishing punches to the face with ten minutes left - highlighting the frustration of their opponents.

That resulted in a straight red card for Cleve blindside Jake Leonard, but Croker said he was most concerned for the safety of his players.

He added: “To be honest there was so much going on I could not really see who was doing what.

“All I was really caring about was the welfare of my players and the barrage which was unloaded at the end was definitely a red card.

“But the other bits and pieces more just looked like pushing and shoving from what I could see but I would need to have a look at the video to see if there was anything else that was highlighhted.”