Justin Burnell says London Welsh’s players must get their heads up straight away after their opening day nightmare against Exeter.

The Exiles lost 52-0 in their Aviva Premiership opener at Oxford’s Kassam Stadium, prompting early questions over their readiness for the top flight.

Head coach Burnell said: “It’s ten months, we knew what the season was about.

“We had two options. We could have stayed in the Championship and, no direspect to the Championship, played in front of crowds of 800 or 900.

“Or you can come here, put your hand up and learn from it.

“It’s pretty straight forward. You can either go home now and hide away.

“Or you can get your chest out, get the smile back on your face, and rock up to work.

“It doesn’t get any easier. We are down in Bath next weekend, but we need to look forward to that.”

Burnell added: “People will look at the scoreline and perhaps take us a little bit for granted.

“That’s not a bad thing either.

“For us, it’s not a case of regrouping or those sort of cliches.

“It is about getting back into work, learning from your mistakes and rectifying them.”

LONDON Welsh lost 34-8 to London Irish in the Aviva A League at Hazelwood last night.

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