With a first competitive start for London Welsh under his belt, Paul Rowley is now looking to push on.

The scrum half, who joined the club in the summer from Plymouth Albion, started the Exiles’ European Rugby Challenge Cup clash with Bordeaux Begles, having come off the bench in Lyon.

Now he’s looking to kick on in the LV= Cup and break into the team for the Aviva Premiership.

“It was a good experience to get out there and play, but the result didn’t go our way and that’s the main thing,” said Rowley.

“And Lyon last week – a big crowd and great atmosphere – they’re the kind of games you want to play in.

"You don’t want to be just training for the sake of training – you want those big occasions. Bordeaux at home is the kind of game you work hard for.”

The 26-year-old from Limerick got the nod from head coach Justin Burnell to line up against the Top 14 side last Thursday at the Kassam Stadium, with the experienced Gordon Ross outside him.

“Gordon being a coach, he’s a bit of general in regards to organisation and he’s good to have outside you as a nine," added Rowley, who arrived at Albion in 2011 from Munster where he came through the Province’s Academy.

"He takes the pressure off, he runs the game and you can concentrate on your service and getting the ball away. He’s good to play with." 

Of course, Bordeaux wasn’t the result Rowley would have wanted to mark his first competitive start for Welsh, with the French side running in seven tries in a 52-20 win.

“We’d seen clips of them and we saw the Clermont result from a few weeks back, so we knew what sort of threats they had and they were clinical. We’d make an error, cough up the ball, and they’re under posts. That’s the level you’re playing at,” said Rowley, who in his five years at Munster gained experience in the Pro 12, British & Irish Cup and with Munster A.

“Their backs were particularly dangerous; they moved the ball well and had pace to burn. It’s tough for us to take because we’re working hard but it’s a kick in the teeth when you cough up the ball in their 22.”

Defeat to the high flying French outfit was Welsh’s eighth consecutive loss of the season, but the scrum half, who caught the eye of Burnell in Plymouth’s Albion 36-15 victory over Welsh at Brickfields in February 2014, is confident that a first win isn’t too far away.

“We just need it; we’re hungry for it. We’re training so hard. It’s just errors and getting back that winning culture that the club had,” he said.

“We have to be patient and we have to understand that at this level we can’t be making the mistakes we have been making. We’ve just got to do the basics, go through our processes and getting the basics right.

“The team has no problem gelling, we’re all mates. It’s just little things in games. I’m enjoying it, but in the bigger picture we’re not getting the wins and as a professional rugby player that’s what makes you happy.”