Post by Jamie Crawford on Sept 20, 2021 9:43:51 GMT
London Scottish preview
sponsored by Twenty Four IT Services (www.twentyfourit.co.uk)
Early because stats are irrelevant until after a few games.
Round 2, Castle Park, Saturday 25th September
In an open letter last July Scottish Director of Rugby Matt Williams stated that the season ahead will be very tough for the Scottish as they play as a part time outfit for the first time and with a new squad of players.
Williams is confident of the season ahead because they have “…an incredible combination of exciting new Championship talent, the best National One players in part-time rugby, Dual Registration players from London Irish and Harlequins all with Premiership experience, and a sprinkling of key old heads, some with international stardust.” (londonscottish.com)
Williams announced the squad, starting on the 28th July, new arrivals in the last two seasons include (as they were announced):
• Loosehead Prop Jake Elwood has arrived from Ealing Trailfinders.
• LH Prop Curtis Reynolds from Pontypridd.
• LH Prop Maurice Nwakor arrives from Rosslyn Park.
• Hooker Nick Selway came to Scottish ahead from Chinnor.
• Hooker Tom Petty is a former England Counties U20s remains after a season
• Hooker Will Routledge joined from Leeds Beckett University/Carnegie.
• Tighthead Prop Joe Rees also joined from Chinnor last Summer.
• TH Prop Alex Gibson joined from Coventry.
• Scrum Half Dan Nutton from Edinburgh.
• Fly Half Laurence May from Ealing Trailfinders.
• Fly Half (can play Inside Centre) Mark Cooke from Blackheath.
• Utility Back Rory Hughes, a Scotland International from Glasgow Warriors.
• Lock Ehize Ehizode from Hartpury Uni.
• Lock Edoardo Balocco from Old Elthamians.
• Lock Angus Southon from Hartpury Uni. All three Locks car also play Back Row
• Back Row James Tyas from Worcester Warriors, ex-Bath plus many Championship clubs. Tyas can also play Lock/Second Row.
• Back or Second Row Brian Tuilagi from Mogliano Rugby in the Italian Top12 competition.
• Openside Flanker Morgan Dawes from Birmingham Moseley.
• Back Row Jack Ingall ex-London Irish with much experience playing in New Zealand.
• Back Row but prefers [HASH]8 Tom Baldwin from Blackheath.
• [HASH]8 Cameron King from Cardiff Metropolitan University.
• [HASH]8 Fred Tuilagi (Brian’s brother) from Italian Top 12 side Rugby Colorno.
The Scottish have appointed Brian Tuilagi as London Scottish Club captain for this season.
The Scottish exiles didn’t play last season due to Covid-induced restrictions; no supporters allowed but they have spent much money over the last two seasons in preparation for this one.
Pre-season fixtures were:
21/08 – Welsh Premiership side Ebbw Vale (@ Maidenhead RFC) Won 33-26. Five tries to two were scored. Bagpipes rallied the Scottish players onto their training base pitch.
4/09 – Richmond (A) Lost 13-17. A Richmond’s try scored in the last five minutes won the game.
11/09 – Nottingham (A) Lost 36-25. Scottish’s flying winger Noah Ferdinand scored a brace of tries.
In Round 1 last weekend the scores were:
London Scottish 7 – 47 Jersey Reds
Coventry Rugby 39-22 Doncaster Knights.
The Scottish felt that the final score didn’t reflect the tight character of the game.
Scottish’s Scrum Half Dan Nutton scored first but he received a yellow card just five minutes before the break. The converted try was to be their only score of the match that saw Jersey’s Forwards dominate, which can draw in players and create overlaps for their Backs to exploit.
There was much disappointment in the Knights’ camp after such a convincing and strong, narrow defeat to Premiership side Newcastle Falcons. Coventry had three pre-season games and the Knights only had one, was this enough preparation for the season? The Knights were unfortunate after their arranged pre-season game against local side Rotherham Titans had to be called off late in the day because the Rugby Football Union (RFU) stated that only Premiership and Championship sides were allowed to play each other with the covid restrictions and the Titans were recently relegated to National Division 1, the division below.
The consensus of opinion is that it is a case of onwards and upwards for the Knights, starting with a convincing performance against London Scottish. However, the Scottish will feel aggrieved that their loss to Jersey looked worse than the play suggested and will want to correct that on Saturday.
Will the Knights start to show their strengths against a semi-professional side that did not play last season or will Scottish’s impressive recruitment be effective?
Meanwhile elsewhere in the championship:
Hartpury v Cornish Pirates
Richmond v Nottingham
Ampthill v Coventry
Jersey Reds v Bedford Blues
COYK
DONNY, DONNY, DONNY…
sponsored by Twenty Four IT Services (www.twentyfourit.co.uk)
Early because stats are irrelevant until after a few games.
Round 2, Castle Park, Saturday 25th September
In an open letter last July Scottish Director of Rugby Matt Williams stated that the season ahead will be very tough for the Scottish as they play as a part time outfit for the first time and with a new squad of players.
Williams is confident of the season ahead because they have “…an incredible combination of exciting new Championship talent, the best National One players in part-time rugby, Dual Registration players from London Irish and Harlequins all with Premiership experience, and a sprinkling of key old heads, some with international stardust.” (londonscottish.com)
Williams announced the squad, starting on the 28th July, new arrivals in the last two seasons include (as they were announced):
• Loosehead Prop Jake Elwood has arrived from Ealing Trailfinders.
• LH Prop Curtis Reynolds from Pontypridd.
• LH Prop Maurice Nwakor arrives from Rosslyn Park.
• Hooker Nick Selway came to Scottish ahead from Chinnor.
• Hooker Tom Petty is a former England Counties U20s remains after a season
• Hooker Will Routledge joined from Leeds Beckett University/Carnegie.
• Tighthead Prop Joe Rees also joined from Chinnor last Summer.
• TH Prop Alex Gibson joined from Coventry.
• Scrum Half Dan Nutton from Edinburgh.
• Fly Half Laurence May from Ealing Trailfinders.
• Fly Half (can play Inside Centre) Mark Cooke from Blackheath.
• Utility Back Rory Hughes, a Scotland International from Glasgow Warriors.
• Lock Ehize Ehizode from Hartpury Uni.
• Lock Edoardo Balocco from Old Elthamians.
• Lock Angus Southon from Hartpury Uni. All three Locks car also play Back Row
• Back Row James Tyas from Worcester Warriors, ex-Bath plus many Championship clubs. Tyas can also play Lock/Second Row.
• Back or Second Row Brian Tuilagi from Mogliano Rugby in the Italian Top12 competition.
• Openside Flanker Morgan Dawes from Birmingham Moseley.
• Back Row Jack Ingall ex-London Irish with much experience playing in New Zealand.
• Back Row but prefers [HASH]8 Tom Baldwin from Blackheath.
• [HASH]8 Cameron King from Cardiff Metropolitan University.
• [HASH]8 Fred Tuilagi (Brian’s brother) from Italian Top 12 side Rugby Colorno.
The Scottish have appointed Brian Tuilagi as London Scottish Club captain for this season.
The Scottish exiles didn’t play last season due to Covid-induced restrictions; no supporters allowed but they have spent much money over the last two seasons in preparation for this one.
Pre-season fixtures were:
21/08 – Welsh Premiership side Ebbw Vale (@ Maidenhead RFC) Won 33-26. Five tries to two were scored. Bagpipes rallied the Scottish players onto their training base pitch.
4/09 – Richmond (A) Lost 13-17. A Richmond’s try scored in the last five minutes won the game.
11/09 – Nottingham (A) Lost 36-25. Scottish’s flying winger Noah Ferdinand scored a brace of tries.
In Round 1 last weekend the scores were:
London Scottish 7 – 47 Jersey Reds
Coventry Rugby 39-22 Doncaster Knights.
The Scottish felt that the final score didn’t reflect the tight character of the game.
Scottish’s Scrum Half Dan Nutton scored first but he received a yellow card just five minutes before the break. The converted try was to be their only score of the match that saw Jersey’s Forwards dominate, which can draw in players and create overlaps for their Backs to exploit.
There was much disappointment in the Knights’ camp after such a convincing and strong, narrow defeat to Premiership side Newcastle Falcons. Coventry had three pre-season games and the Knights only had one, was this enough preparation for the season? The Knights were unfortunate after their arranged pre-season game against local side Rotherham Titans had to be called off late in the day because the Rugby Football Union (RFU) stated that only Premiership and Championship sides were allowed to play each other with the covid restrictions and the Titans were recently relegated to National Division 1, the division below.
The consensus of opinion is that it is a case of onwards and upwards for the Knights, starting with a convincing performance against London Scottish. However, the Scottish will feel aggrieved that their loss to Jersey looked worse than the play suggested and will want to correct that on Saturday.
Will the Knights start to show their strengths against a semi-professional side that did not play last season or will Scottish’s impressive recruitment be effective?
Meanwhile elsewhere in the championship:
Hartpury v Cornish Pirates
Richmond v Nottingham
Ampthill v Coventry
Jersey Reds v Bedford Blues
COYK
DONNY, DONNY, DONNY…
