Leeds Carnegie, who beat London Welsh 38-31 in the first leg of their Greene King IPA Championship play-off semi-final at Headingley yesterday, have been here before.

Last season they defeated Newcastle Falcons 24-19 in the home leg, only to lose by 15-6 in the away leg the following Sunday to lose by an agonising 34-30 on aggregate to the side that eventually got promoted.

But back-rower Ryan Burrows believes that experience of failure has made the current squad stronger as they head to Oxford for the second leg next Sunday.

The former Cleckheaton player said: “I think we learnt a lot last season about what it takes to win these games over two legs and we need to put that into practice this week.

“The play-offs have shown that the four best teams are battling it out and there is very little to choose between any of us.

“Both ties are nicely set up for next weekend.”

Rotherham Titans trail Bristol 17-14 in the other play-off tie but have home advantage next Saturday.