Post by Jamie Crawford on Mar 16, 2015 14:00:43 GMT
After a fantastic display at Castle Park in the B & I Cup against Bristol, the Knights recommence league action with an away encounter with the Scottish exiles at the Athletic Ground in Richmond.
London Scottish are third in the Championship after winning eleven, drawing one and losing five of the seventeen games that they’ve played. The Knights are tenth after winning six and losing eleven.
Scottish have scored an average of over 27 points/game whilst conceding 19.7 points. The Knights have scored an average of 18.9 points and conceded an average of 22.3 points.
Scottish have only lost twice at home this season and that was to the top two teams Worcester Warriors and Bristol. Scottish have scored 61 tries to the Knights’ 28 and over 70% of Scottish’s tries scored have been at home. Scottish have the second tightest defence of their try-line, after only conceding 38 tries. Wuss has the tightest defence.
The Scottish Fly Half/Full Back Peter Lydon is the third best kicker in the Championship and only one point behind second-placed Pirate Kieran Hallett. Lydon has a strike rate of 75%, again third and just 3% behind Dougie.
Scottish Back Row Mark Bright is eighth in the list and so Scottish have two very capable kickers.
Ex-Knights and now Scottish Centre PJ Gidlow and Wing Matt Williams will be familiar with the Knights’ setup and will want to show what the Knights are missing.
Bright is definitely the main player to be wary of scoring tries. Bright is the top try-scorer in the Championship by a country mile from second-placed Warrior Tom Briggs. Bright has scored 21 tries this season over 17 games. Bright has scored a hat-trick twice this season.
Matt Williams is the Championship’s equal-sixth top try-scorer and Winger Miles Mantella is equal ninth.
It’s not surprising then that the Back Row have scored most of Scottish’s tries (all bar two by Bright). Wingers are second followed by the Centres and the Half Backs.
Scottish have conceded most tries down the wings followed by the Back Row and then the Front Row.
The Knights have to defend well against Bright, Williams and Mantella but especially Bright. They must keep their discipline and look at exploiting weaknesses. These have mainly appeared down the Wings and in the Front Row.
Records are there to be broken. Bristol had only been beaten once this season and we beat them last Saturday. Scottish may have only been beaten twice at home this season but that is double the number of times that Bristol had been beaten and we beat Bris!
DONNY, DONNY, DONNY…
