Miles Benjamin bagged a hat-trick against Plymouth © Getty Images

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Teams: Bristol Bears | England | Worcester Warriors

Richard Hill's Worcester lead the way after two rounds of the new Championship season, having picked up a 26-19 victory over Plymouth Albion on Saturday.

The Warriors are joined at the top of the pile by the Cornish Pirates, who secured their second win of the season at home to London Welsh, pulling through 22-3. Esher and Rotherham are also unbeaten after the opening fortnight, with newly-promoted Esher inflicting a 29-27 defeat on last season's beaten finalists, Bristol.

Wing Miles Benjamin scored his first senior hat-trick to power the Warriors to victory who were made to work a lot harder than they were in their opening day rout of Birmingham and Solihull. "We found it tough, it was a bit of a reality check after last week and that is what we needed," admitted Benjamin. "You are going to get tough days like this when you travel a long way.

"It is job done but we are still disappointed with our performance and I know Richard Hill will want more from us. We didn't underestimate them. They are a good side, a professional outfit who wanted to prove a point. It was a battle and something we can learn from."

Cornish Pirates were thankful for an opportunist score by Wales Sevens international Rhodri McAtee, whose burst lit up a game made stodgy by plenty of penalties and a lack of attacking quality. The Pirates saw three players yellow-carded but Welsh were unable to make their numerical advantage count.

Bristol were left to rue a second-half fightback from Esher, having cemented a 17-10 half-time advantage thanks to tries from Dan Norton and Jack Adams. The home side upped the tempo after the break but after Phil Mackenzie's vital try they were forced to withstand a late onslaught as Bristol secured a penalty try. Replacement fly-half Adrian Jarvis had the chance to win the game in the dying moments but fluffed his lines from the kicking tee.

Rotherham upset Bedford 19-16 thanks to Juan Pablo Socino's late try, with the ensuing conversion pushing the Titans ahead for the first time in the match. The Argentinean centre also provided late fireworks in last weekend's victory over Bristol.

In the round's other games, Nottingham and Moseley both enjoyed their first wins of the new campaign. Nottingham had too much firepower for Birmingham and Solihull, picking up all five points in a 41-28 victory while Doncaster were shown up at home by Moseley, going down 23-16 to the midlands side.