TAUNTON Titans head coach Tony Yapp was pleased to see his side "enjoy defending" as they beat Bournemouth 49-12 in Saturday's opening fixture.

The Titans conceded a try inside the first couple of minutes but hit back to lead 30-7 at half-time, thanks to tries from Charlie Williams, Oli Down, Brett Harvey and Julian Salvi.

Three more tries followed in the second half – from Harvey, Tom Popham and James Tait – and the Taunton players withstood plenty of pressure as they limited the visitors to just one more try at the other end.

READ MORE: Taunton Titans 49-12 Bournemouth as it happened

Yapp said afterwards: "It's not the greatest start to the season, conceding inside the first two or three minutes, but we bounced back really quickly – we won the ball, went through some phases and scored.

"After that I thought we took control of the game, and we're over the moon to score 49 points.

"Bournemouth are a good team, who are riding on the wave of momentum from [winning promotion] last year, and they've recruited well so they have some really good players.

"We expected it to be tough, and it was, so it's a credit to our guys that we were able to stick in there and score 49 points, while also denying them too many opportunities.

"The players worked really hard over 80 minutes, and it seemed to me that for the last 20 minutes they were enjoying defending, which was great – getting off their line and making those hits."

He added: "It's a great start, as you never really know what to expect, especially against a team like Bournemouth who have come up.

"It could have been a bit of a banana skin, but it's great to come out the other end with five points."

Yapp was also pleased to see the new boys in the team perform well, meaning there is real competition for places in the matchday squad.

"Jack Arnott, Dan Lee and Chris Courtier have come in over the summer, and all the players who have come in have added something," he said.

"We had a lot of players out – Lewis Webb, Toots [Ratu Vakalutukali], Ben Oliphant-Thompson, Sam Prior – and a few people asking questions about who these new players are, but we're rewarding the guys who have trained well and played well in pre-season.

"So it's a credit to those guys to come out and repay the faith in selection.

"All the guys know that if they don't perform well, then they may not be involved next week.

"That's massive, and with the 2nd XV winning as well today, it keeps everyone on their toes.

"It's great to have that depth, and Oli Down came in to make his debut – he's come from Crediton, a few leagues below, and he was outstanding."

Next Saturday sees Taunton play at home again, with South West rivals Redruth the visitors to the Towergate Stadium (ko 3pm).

Yapp added: "We know Redruth well, we're their closest game and they always bring a lot of support.

"They're always up for it, they're always tight games, and we're going to need to be at our best next week.

"But hopefully if we train well this week, then we can make the most of two home games first up."