London Scottish fell to defeat against Doncaster Knights on the road. With a side ravaged by injury heading up north, it was a spirited display from London Scottish. 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.
Doncaster controlled proceedings on Saturday, the home side had had 63% possession and 61% of territory, forcing London Scottish on the back for for the eighty minutes. As a result, the Exiles had to make more than double the amount of tackles as their opponents with 174 compared to just 84.
This resulted in nine offloads to one in favour of Doncaster as well as 28 defenders beaten compared to London Scottish’s 11.
Scottish’s line out failed to function on Saturday with Doncaster competing hard throughout the game. As a result, Scottish only one 62% of their ball compared to 87% success rate for Doncaster.
At the scrum, Scottish were perfect on their own ball winning all possession whilst Doncaster lost one of their 11 scrums. However, the Exiles did give away six scrum penalties whilst Doncaster only conceded the one, giving them a strong standing in this area of the game.
Jake Spurway was the stand out performer for London Scottish this week, putting in an impact score of 7. Tom Wilstead also impressed in the backs with a strong showing.
Jake’s display saw him put in 20 tackles in the second row as well as three carries and 14 ruck entries. A true work horse of a performance for his side.
Oliver Duncan, playing out of position in the centres topped the carrying charts with 11 carries. However, hooker Jimmy Staples made the most amount of metres for London Scottish with 40 and a try to boot. He also joined Jake on the tackle charts with 20 tackles in the eighty for another great showing.
Scottish can once again bemoan their discipline and ability to control the game. Doncaster conceded just eight penalties in the game whilst the Exiles infringed on 14 occasions, giving Doncaster exit opportunities and the chance to enter the Scottish half.
The ability to get in the right areas also cost Scottish. They only entered the Doncaster 22 on two occasions in the whole game whilst their opponents entered 16 times. Just showing that the away side were unable to get a foothold in the game.
Having said all of this, the way the Exiles battled against a strong side away from home with a lot of disruption to the side was admirable. The game was truly competitive for a lot of the match and stands the Exiles in good stead heading into the final rounds of the season then the playoffs.
