Cornish Pirates boss Alan Paver excited by close Championship season

Cornish Pirates are the only side to beat last season's beaten play-off finalists Ealing this season

Cornish Pirates joint-head coach Alan Paver says this season's Championship could be one of the most competitive.

Four points cover the top seven teams and every team bar bottom side London Scottish has won at least twice.

Part-time side Richmond are joint-top, with Hartpury a point behind in third.

"It's making for an interesting league and I think it's going to take until Christmas for us to fully understand how this is going to pan out," Paver told BBC Radio Cornwall.

Paver's Pirates are fourth in the 11-team league after three wins and a defeat from their four matches - two points off leaders Ealing.

For the first time since the Championship was formed in 2009 there is not a relegated Premiership side in the league, after Saracens were promoted last season and no side was relegated due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

With the leagues below the Championship not being played last season no side was promoted, leading to 11 sides competing and each team having two bye weeks during the season.

"If it was the same usual suspects at the top I think everyone would go 'OK that's the way it's going to be for the season'," added Paver.

"But the fact that Hartpury are at the top and pushing very hard for those top positions just goes to show that the league has balanced out a bit more this season but also the fact that they've improved.

"I think Richmond have got their product correct, they've done very well with a part-time mode and accessed some very decent players and are also very well coached."

A loss at Hartpury is the Pirates' only blemish on their record, which includes inflicting the only defeat on pre-season favourites Ealing.

"For us we were very lucky that Dickie Evans allowed us to keep the majority of the infrastructure in place which allowed us to launch properly off the back of that," added Paver.

"Even though last season was a shortened season we were relatively relatively successful, not quite as we wanted, but relatively successful.

"We feel this year if we can keep this early momentum going we may be able to keep the consistency and pressurise the top of that league as we move on."