AN INEXPERIENCED Bournemouth side were given a harsh opening-day lesson in National Three South West as they succumbed 46-13 to Oxford Harlequins.

Relegated from National Two South last season, Lions experienced significant player turnover during the summer and that was reflected in the starting XV at North Hinksey.

There were full debuts for James Benson-King, Lewis Dennett and Matthew Warwick and league debuts for Ben Hatch, Tom Morgan, Sam Palmer, James Graesser and Chris Jeffes.

Now under the charge of director of rugby Crispin Cormack, Bournemouth were put under pressure early on and found themselves 21 points adrift with less than half an hour played.

Oxford grabbed an unconverted try within a minute of kick-off and moments later, fly-half Zac Norris punished an offside when he extended the advantage to 10-0.

Visiting number 10 Richard McCartney slotted over a penalty but Quins hit back when left wing Ed Yates proved too strong and quick and Norris added the extras.

Despite subsequent Lions pressure, the hosts broke from deep and Norris evaded Hatch to finish off a flowing move, before converting his own score.

The away side gained faint hope when hooker Riad Lynch bulldozed over following a lineout, although McCartney pushed his kick left of the upright.

With poor execution of the basics, Lions struggled to build momentum and they were on the wrong end of a flowing three-quarter move that was finished off under the posts by Norris.

The fly-half’s successful kick made it 31-8 and Quins headed into the break with a try-scoring bonus point in the bag.

Matters went from bad to worse following the restart when a fumble handed the initiative to Quins and from the resulting scrum, a seamless move led to a sixth home try, which Norris converted.

Replacement James Graesser barged his way over after good work with the boot by McCartney, but the latter’s missed kick meant the scoreline remained at 36-13.

Norris kicked a penalty before Oxford bagged an end-to-end try which started with a break by number eight Seisoni Tupou and finished with wing Kenni Fisilau crossing the whitewash.

Norris added the extras and there was no further scoring in the final 20 minutes.

Lions: Morgan, Palmer, Meaden, Dennett, Hatch, Hardcastle, Firetto, Lynch, Manning, Warwick, Scott, Benson-King, Rees, Hennings. Replacements: Graesser, Jeffes, Smith.