Cornish Pirates impress to beat Ealing 30-10 in Championship opener

Cornish Pirates were one of four tams in the Championship to get a bonus point win on the opening weekend of the season

Cornish Pirates coach Alan Paver has hailed his side's defence after beating Ealing 30-10 in their opening Championship match of the season.

First-half tries from Maliq Holden, Nicolas De Battista and Brett Beukeboom helped the Pirates to a 22-3 lead at half-time, before Callum Patterson's 70th-minute score sealed a bonus point.

Ealing scored just one try after the break thanks to dogged defending.

"We kept them out for huge periods of time," Paver told BBC Radio Cornwall.

"That's got to be very demoralising for the opposition, having a lot of possession so close to the line and just not being able to breach it."

Ealing were again the favourites before the season began to put pressure on relegated Premiership side Newcastle Falcons in the second tier, but Paver felt his side could pull off something special in their first home game since the end of last season.

"The score we didn't expect, I thought it would come down to fine margins, but I knew we were in a good mental space," he said.

"We've had four or five really good training sessions leading up to this and I knew the feeling was right, but the score was a bit beyond what I thought.

"There were a couple of things that went against them and we capitalised on it, we took our opportunities and took them well.

"They haven't played a side that's been able to nullify their big carriers and today we were very physical in the tackle, very ferocious at the breakdown and I think it made them feel a bit flat."