In front of a crowd of over 400 at the Athletic Ground last Monday, London Scottish Under 21’s took to the field in the annual match against Richmond for the Rocky Skinner Trophy.

This was the eleventh meeting of the two sides in the modern version of this historic fixture between the two clubs. The game was moved to the 2nd of January from its traditional New Year’s Day slot as the 1st XV were in action away at Leeds on the 1st.

Both sides provided an entertaining game of free-flowing rugby and it was arguably one of the best games seen between the two sides in many a year. Richmond started the match with an older and more experienced squad with an average age of 21, the average age of the Scottish side being 19. As a result, the real difference showed through in the physicality of the packs. This allowed Richmond a much better platform to develop their attack from. However, even with that distinct disadvantage, Scottish were resolute in defence and managed to gain plenty of possession in attack. That physicality showed through in the end, but Scottish still managed to repel a number of rolling mauls and were unlucky themselves not to pick up a late try in injury time after pounding the Richmond line for a number of minutes.

Final Score: 10-19

London Scottish scorers:

Try – McGowan
Conversion – Ratford
Penalty – Ratford

London Scottish Man-of-the-Match: Ross Grimstone

Squad:

15. Ross McIntosh, 14. Johnny Walker, 13. Andy Doctor, 12. Sam Hawley, 11. Elliot Thompson, 10. Craig Ratford, 9. Ross McGowan, 1. Tom Pellett, 2. Glen Kennedy, 3. James Read, 4. Rikki Cleveland, 5. Charlie Watts
6. Ross Grimstone, 7. Billy Harding (Capt.), 8.Ian Brooks

Replacements – Marcus Bailey, James Porter, James Parker, Andrew Grant, Patrick Whitfield, Simon Hugkultsone, Carlo Castaldo, Pierre Wedja, Will Yates, Gavin Grant, Craig Rivard, Jake Gordon, Will Edgely.