The London Scottish Academy continued their pre-season preparations last month ahead of the 2014/15 campaign
Bedford Academy v London Scottish Academy Rampant Lions, Saturday, August 23.
The Rampant Lions had their first squad run out against Bedford Academy.
In a game of three 30 minute periods with rolling subs, the Lions left a strong cohort behind as the fixture was agreed to be a majority U19 match with a sprinkling of U21 players.
Included in the squad was Harry McCartney who had his first run out for the Pro Side against Esher last month – a great example of how the Academy develops players for the Pro Side.
The Lions got off to a shaky start with Bedford scoring through their forwards within the first five minutes.
This woke the LSFC Academy up as they took control of the ball but failed to puncture the Bedford defence.
Excellent cover tackling from winger Daley Aremu, who had a solid debut performance and centres Conrad Edgar and Will Manhire kept Bedford at bay before the hosts eventually scored to make it 12-0.
The second third saw the Lions pack take control and they were rewarded with a fine try by Kieran O’Sullivan-Day, converted by fly half Harvey Young.
Number eight Alex Brown soon went over as well for the Lions with Young’s conversion giving the visitors a 14-12 advantage.
However Bedford hit back hard and scored two quick fire tries which opened up a 22-14 advantage before the Scots responded with Conrad Burne sprinting down the wing to score under the posts for 22-21.
The Lions started the final third with all their new youngsters, including an extremely promising prop, Tom Henfrey.
However Bedford scored a converted try to seal a 29-21 win.
Overall the Academy squad, minus some influential players, displayed some promising phases of play which bodes well for the season ahead.
London Scottish Academy v Ealing Trailfinders Academy, Saturday, August 30.
The Senior and Junior Academy welcomed Ealing Trailfinders' Academies to Richmond Athletic Ground last Saturday, August 30 for two pre-season matches.
The Young Lions had a squad of 30 Academy trialists all playing for a final spot in the squad and started their match strongly, leading 15-7 after 25 minutes.
Despite a raft of changes, London Scottish continued their dominance opening up a 36-14 lead with another three tries added before the hour mark.
More changes were made to give all players a fair chance based on their training attendance and the Young Lions finished off the game scoring another three tries in the last 20 minutes making the final score 51-14.
The Rampant Lions in their game against Ealing was a far tougher affair.
Despite Scottish dominating the early exchanges, Ealing scored three tries to win 19-5.
Tomorrow, Saturday, September 6, most of the players will face a similar but stronger Ealing team by playing in the Senior rugby set-up for the Highlanders.
Academy Player Sponsorship
The Academy squad is now selected and every player will look for player sponsorship this season.
This covers their Academy kit and membership for the season.
If anyone is willing to sponsor an Academy player, please contact Corné Du Rand on corne.durand@londonsottish.com
