London Scottish fell to a defeat against Bedford Blues at Goldington Road, however, the Exiles picked up a bonus point on the road, coming away with their fourth try in the dying moments of the game.
Find out how the game was won and lost and what the stats tell us about another exciting game in the Champ and what Scottish need to do this weekend against Chinnor. Find out all in this week’s Stat Bunker brought to you by Cairnhill Structures.
On the face of it, the stats show us a relatively even picture of proceedings. Scottish edged possession and territory by a 2% in a very even split.
Carries were similar, and as a result so were tackles made by both sides. Bedford did perform better defensively, making 85% of their tackles compared to 75% by Scottish. However, Bedford also made the most of their possession that bit more, carrying for over 1000m compared to 650m of Scottish’s.
Overall Scottish competed well on the face of it but Bedford had that cutting edge to take the game away from the Exiles at crucial points in the game.
In the tight Scottish gained the upper hand for the most part during the contest. A better line out completion percentage as well as better use of their maul which contributed to the bonus point try and three penalties.
At scrum time Bedford performed slightly better winning four scrum penalties to Scottish’s one. The home side also had a 100% record on their own ball whilst London Scottish lost two of their seven scrums.
Matt Wilkinson shone in the second row on Friday night, picking up a Champ impact score of 7.6. His display saw him put in eight tackles, four carries and 17 ruck entries. A work horse of a performance.
In the backs Hayden Hyde was the outstanding performer, carrying for 46m across 9 carries in his eight minute display. He also topped the charts for defenders beaten, getting past five of his opponents on the night.
Bedford dominated the opening quarter of the game, scoring four tries and almost putting the contest to bed. This was built on some key factors. Bedford dominated possession in this time and also beat 20 defenders to London Scottish’s 2 making six line breaks.
Things evened up as the game went along with Scottish starting to edge defenders beaten and 22m entries. This mirrored again after half time when Bedford scored two more tries, they dominated the defenders beaten stats which got them off to a flyer.
Looking ahead to next weekend and the visit of Chinnor, Scottish need to sure up their defence, make more of their tackles and prevent offloads from coming in from their opponents.
On top of that they need to make the most of the ball they do have, averaging a point less per 22m entry compared to Bedford was a key factor in the result. If Scottish can be more clinical then they can cause some real trouble.
