Scottish fell to a defeat in the derby on Saturday, as Richmond put in a late surge to get the win in a crucial game. But what do the stats say? We delve into why that was and where the game was truly won and lost in this week’s Stat Bunker brought to you by Cairnhill.
Richmond appeared to control a lot of the game on Saturday. Holding 56% of possession and spending 57% of the game in Scottish’s half. This led to a greater number of carries from Richmond, as well as more metres made. As a result, Richmond beat more defenders, and made more clean breaks. This mean that Scottish had a lower tackles completion rate compared to their opponents.
Scottish and Richmond had a very equal day at the line out. Both one 93% of their own ball, losing just one of their line outs each. The same can be said for the scrum where both side’s won all of their own ball. However, Scottish gave away three penalties at scrum time compared to Richmond’s two, giving the away side a slight edge.
Murray Bellis came into the fray just 20 minutes into the game following an injury to Tom Wilstead. The winger grew into the game fast, scoring a try, making 41 metres with the ball in hand, winning a turnover and making 5 tackles.
In the forwards, Seb Driscoll also shone. A work horse of a performance which saw him make 17 tackles, win a turnover and hit 24 rucks.
Discipline has been a factor for Scottish this season but on this occasion the Exiles were on the right side of the penalty count, only conceding 9 to Richmond’s 12.
However, a strength of Scottish’s game has been their kicking strategy. The Exiles kicked just 13 times this weekend for 300m whilst Richmond kicked on 20 occasions for 540m giving them a distinct advantage in the territorial battle.
Scottish were also the less disciplined of the two sides when it came to turnovers conceded. The Exiles lost the ball on 12 occasions with 66% of them being unforced. Whilst Richmond coughed up the ball 9 times and only 57% of these were unforced.
With just a score separating the two sides, Scottish aren’t that far off from turning this result around. Controlling the ball and territory is going to be key, if they can get their hands on it more often and in the right areas then the game is there to be won for the Exiles.
