London Scottish lock David Lyons is approaching his best form for the exiles and has one person to thank – acting head coach James Buckland.

The former Cornish Pirate has been a model of consistency in the Scottish engine room since the opening weeks of the season and starred as his side toppled Championship leaders London Welsh 13-5 in Oxford at the weekend.

Miles Mantella scored his 15th try in 13 Championship appearances for London Scottish this term at Welsh on Saturday as the Athletic Ground outfit moved up to second in the table and within a bonus point win of the summit.

For Lyons the Scottish surge this term is down to Buckland, who took charge in the wake of former director of rugby Simon Amor's departure to the England Sevens set-up earlier this season.
 

And the 28-year-old former Worcester Warriors second row has noticed the ex-London Irish hooker's impact on his own performances too. 

“The last couple of months I’ve been pretty happy with the way I have played,” said Lyons.
 

“It took me a few games to get into things, but now I feel I'm going pretty well.
 

“There is always plenty to work on and as long as we are winning, I’m happy.
 

“As a whole the squad is in a good place at the moment.
 

“James is doing a fantastic job. He does the forwards work with us, but also the defence.
 

“From my point of view these are areas I focus on and there is a belief he instills in us.
 

“We want to work for him and each other.”