London Scottish recorded a famous win against Chinnor on Saturday, downing the high flying Oxfordshire based side at home. We dive into the stats here to find out where the game was won and lost, who stood out and what to take away going into the final block of the season. Brought to you by Cairnhill Structures.
Scottish edged the key stats on the day, wining 51% of the ball and 56% of the territory for the eighty minutes. A small advantage but a crucial one. With the extra possession Scottish were able to carry the ball more than their opposition and make 30% more metres with the ball.
This all led to more visits to the 22 coming from a greater number of linebreaks and defenders beaten throughout the game. In previous weeks, the Exiles’ cutting edge has been in question but on Saturday that certainly was not the case
Defensively, the Scots also shone, making 88% of their tackles. a full 13% higher than their season average.
The set piece was where Chinnor gained a foothold in the game. At scrum time the away side won all their scrums and milked five penalties from the area. Scottish were, however, able to hang onto their own ball at the scrum 100% of the time giving them a platform to play off. Crucially for this beautiful try from Jonny Law.
The line out though allowed Scottish a way into Chinnor’s game. With the home side winning 86% of ball and Chinnor only 69% it was a key area for Scottish to thrive in preventing Chinnor get a platform.
Matt Wilkinson and Hayden Hyde shone for Scottish in this week’s fixture scoring a 8 and an 8.6 respectively. Hayden ran for 133m during the game, scoring a try and a earning an assist. He also won a turnover and made five tackles across his display.
Matt Wilkinson led the forwards with a talismanic eighty minute performance. 8 carries, 12 tackles and 17 rucks hit he was in the top five for all stats on the day. A real work horse performance that was almost flawless with zero mistakes.
Scottish put in an all round display on the weekend which saw them overwhelm their opposition for much of the eighty minutes. The Club’s DNA has been based around the kicking game and that shone through, kicking for 100 more metres than their opponents and on six more occasions. This kept Chinnor pinned in their 22 for much of proceedings.
Much of the damage was done in the first half with Scottish entering the 22 on five occasions to Chinnor’s three. Even when the game turned in the second half the 22 entries were even as Scottish didn’t succumb to pressure and were able to exert moments of their own.
Another key factor was the cutting edge Scottish showed in this game. In most games this season Scottish have failed to convert their chances but this game the Exiles matched Chinnor for points per 22 entry.
The Exiles also led on defenders beaten allowing them to break the game up. In the first forty when the damage was done Scottish beat 11 defenders to Chinnor’s 8. Even in the second forty Scottish beat 15 defenders to Chinnor’s 10.
This led to nine initial breaks in the first half and one in the second for Scottish. Conversely, Chinnor only made two line breaks all eighty minutes, both occurring in the second forty.
It shows that Scottish need to keep this expansive rugby and cutting edge up going forwards. It’s key to their success but it must be paired with a strong kicking game and the ability to gain traction up front.
