JOE Roff played down his own performance after helping Oxford University to victory on his home debut.

Roff scored two tries from outside centre in Oxford's 34-26 victory over London Welsh as their back line sparked into life in the second half.

The 31-year-old Australian international, whose appearance seemed to swell the Iffley Road crowd, stressed he and the team had plenty of improvements to make.

Roff said: "They were what we outside backs call cheap tries where you just receive the scoring pass, but I'll certainly take them.

"To get over the line in my first home game was a nice feeling.

"I've been looking forward to playing here for some time now."

Oxford only really clicked for a period in the second half, but showed great promise when they did.

Roff said: "It's funny how the pendulum swings like that.

"Once we were able to put all the combinations of the game together from the forwards to good running lines we created opportunities.

"As the games get closer to the Varsity Match, they get harder and we can't wait until 60 minutes to get going."

He added: "I think the performance was a step in the right direction for us.

"It was a really physical game and they certainly came here to play.

"I think Welsh had the better of the play in the first 40.

"We didn't really challenge them, but we spoke about what we wanted to do and kept our discipline to do it.

"That was the most pleasing thing to come out of the game.

"From the demeanour of the guys, I think we know there is still a lot of work to be done."

Monday night saw some unusually mild weather for Iffley Road.

Roff said: "I'm looking forward to having a few games at home now and if the weather stays like this I will be happy.

"However, you can't rely on good conditions for the Varsity. You must be prepared to play in all weather."