Post by Jamie Crawford on Apr 7, 2015 17:30:43 GMT
Saturday sees our local derby against South Yorkshire rivals Rotherham Titans when the Knights will be keen to avenge their 21 – 23 defeat in the reverse fixture last January. Knights fans won’t forget that penalty kick in the seventy fourth minute from the boot of James McKinney that turned a one-point losing bonus point into four-point win for the Titans. It was a game that former Knight Michael Keating will have loved after scoring a brace of tries against his former employer, one either side of half time. The Knights scored both of their tries in the second half.
The Titans are fifth with three games to go until the end of the season. They are one point below Nottingham in fourth and the lowest available promotion play-off spot. Nottingham play third-placed Scottish Exiles in London and so Rotherham might see Saturday as their chance to enter the play-off spot with two games to go. Of course Nottingham must lose AND Rotherham must beat us first so that aint gunna happen!
The Titans have won ten, drawn one and lost eight of their nineteen games played. The Knights have won six, drawn one and lost twelve of theirs. On their respective journeys the Titans have accrued 79 more points than the knights but conceded 25 more. That is a net difference of just 59 points or 3.1 points per game yet the titans are near the top of the Championship and the Knights are near the bottom! The point is that the Titans may be four league places or four wins above the Knights but the difference isn’t great as the reverse result shows. The Knights just need to keep their discipline and it turns out be very strong in their forward defence and attack.
The Titans have scored 19 more tries than the Knights but they have conceded 11 more, again a net difference of eight or a try every two or three games.
Titan Fly Half James McKinney is the fourth top point’s scorer in the Championship; McKinney has a strike rate of 68%. Flanker Jack Preece is the joint sixth Championship top try-scorer, three of the players that have scored more are all Warriors! Winger Michael Keating is the next highest Titan try-scorer and has scored only a couple fewer than Preece. Just one try fewer and level with top Knight try-scorer Latu Makaafi are Full Back Sean Scanlon and Winger Curtis Wilson. Hooker Tom Cruse and Flanker Alex Reider are a further try behind and level with Knights’ Captain Michael Hills.
30% of Titan tries have been scored by the back row, add the rest of the forwards plus a couple of penalty tries and that percentage goes up to 44.4% of tries scored by the forwards. With Cruse probably scoring from the rear of set pieces and that percentage goes up again to almost 52% of tries scored from or off set pieces. Titan Wingers are also prolific try-scorers, as the Knights have already experienced. Titans centres don’t hang back either, only three other team’s centres have scored more tries than the Titan centres.
Conversely only Plymouth Albion have conceded more tries from the Back Row, only Bristol (?!) and the Pirates have conceded more by the Second Row (only one and two more respectively) and Rotherham stand on their own as conceding the most tries by the second row. It seems that Titan forwards have been much stronger in attack than defence. Titan Backs and particularly down the wings have conceded the fewest tries in the Championship, so gaps will be difficult to exploit.
There is no remarkable difference when tries are scored or conceded throughout the game save for the fact that the Titans have scored nearly 40% of their tries in the last quarter, so they finish strongly.
The Titans hold the South Yorkshire bragging rights so far this season; the Knights need to win them back this Saturday.
COYK
DONNY, DONNY, DONNY…
Elsewhere in the championship, all games are on Saturday 11th April:
Jersey (8th, 9 points above) play their ‘localish’ derby when they welcome seventh-placed Cornish Pirates. The reverse fixture saw the Pirates run in three unanswered tries. Jersey are untouchable on Saturday but it doesn't hurt to look ahead!
Bedford Blues (10th, 1 point below) welcome Moseley (11th, 6 points below).
The Titans are fifth with three games to go until the end of the season. They are one point below Nottingham in fourth and the lowest available promotion play-off spot. Nottingham play third-placed Scottish Exiles in London and so Rotherham might see Saturday as their chance to enter the play-off spot with two games to go. Of course Nottingham must lose AND Rotherham must beat us first so that aint gunna happen!
The Titans have won ten, drawn one and lost eight of their nineteen games played. The Knights have won six, drawn one and lost twelve of theirs. On their respective journeys the Titans have accrued 79 more points than the knights but conceded 25 more. That is a net difference of just 59 points or 3.1 points per game yet the titans are near the top of the Championship and the Knights are near the bottom! The point is that the Titans may be four league places or four wins above the Knights but the difference isn’t great as the reverse result shows. The Knights just need to keep their discipline and it turns out be very strong in their forward defence and attack.
The Titans have scored 19 more tries than the Knights but they have conceded 11 more, again a net difference of eight or a try every two or three games.
Titan Fly Half James McKinney is the fourth top point’s scorer in the Championship; McKinney has a strike rate of 68%. Flanker Jack Preece is the joint sixth Championship top try-scorer, three of the players that have scored more are all Warriors! Winger Michael Keating is the next highest Titan try-scorer and has scored only a couple fewer than Preece. Just one try fewer and level with top Knight try-scorer Latu Makaafi are Full Back Sean Scanlon and Winger Curtis Wilson. Hooker Tom Cruse and Flanker Alex Reider are a further try behind and level with Knights’ Captain Michael Hills.
30% of Titan tries have been scored by the back row, add the rest of the forwards plus a couple of penalty tries and that percentage goes up to 44.4% of tries scored by the forwards. With Cruse probably scoring from the rear of set pieces and that percentage goes up again to almost 52% of tries scored from or off set pieces. Titan Wingers are also prolific try-scorers, as the Knights have already experienced. Titans centres don’t hang back either, only three other team’s centres have scored more tries than the Titan centres.
Conversely only Plymouth Albion have conceded more tries from the Back Row, only Bristol (?!) and the Pirates have conceded more by the Second Row (only one and two more respectively) and Rotherham stand on their own as conceding the most tries by the second row. It seems that Titan forwards have been much stronger in attack than defence. Titan Backs and particularly down the wings have conceded the fewest tries in the Championship, so gaps will be difficult to exploit.
There is no remarkable difference when tries are scored or conceded throughout the game save for the fact that the Titans have scored nearly 40% of their tries in the last quarter, so they finish strongly.
The Titans hold the South Yorkshire bragging rights so far this season; the Knights need to win them back this Saturday.
COYK
DONNY, DONNY, DONNY…
Elsewhere in the championship, all games are on Saturday 11th April:
Jersey (8th, 9 points above) play their ‘localish’ derby when they welcome seventh-placed Cornish Pirates. The reverse fixture saw the Pirates run in three unanswered tries. Jersey are untouchable on Saturday but it doesn't hurt to look ahead!
Bedford Blues (10th, 1 point below) welcome Moseley (11th, 6 points below).
