London Scottish took on Bedford Blues on Friday night in front of a packed out RAG. It was one hell of a battle as Bedford ran out victors thanks to a big second half display.
Tale of the Tape
London Scottish dominated possession over the eighty minutes, taking 57% of the ball but were unable to make that count on the scoreline. Conversely, Bedford narrowly won the territory battle spending 53% of the game in the London Scottish half.
Bedford made the most of their time on the ball running it 311 metres to London Scottish’s 163, also making 4 line breaks to London Scottish’s 1. Both sides broke the gainline roughly a 1/3 of the time but Bedford Blues made more offloads allowing them to get in behind the Scottish defence more regularly.
In defence, Bedford had a higher tackle success rate 95% to London Scottish’s 80%. Bedford were also the more disciplined of the sides giving away just 5 penalties compared to London Scottish’s 13.
The Set Piece
Scottish had the superior day at the line out winning 100% of their 7 line outs. The Exiles were able to spoil 5 of Bedford’s 24 line outs on the night.
At maul time Scottish and Bedford both scored one try directly from the tight exchanges. Bedford, however, did make two errors at the maul whilst Scottish were 100% accurate at maul time.
At the scrum, it was a relatively even affair. Both sides lost one scrum with Bedford having the slightly higher completion rate. Bedford won 2 penalties versus London Scottish’s one on the night
Chart Toppers
Top Tackler – 16 – Fyn Brown (Bedford Blues)
Top Carrier – 13 – Fred Tuilagi (Bedford Blues)
Most Metres Made – 69 – Louis James & Ryan Hutler (Bedford Blues)
Most Defenders Beaten – 3 – Ryan Hutler (Bedford Blues)
Most Rucks Hit – 32 – Jack Ingall (London Scottish)
Most Turnovers – 3 – Stephen Kerins (London Scottish)
Where the Game was Won and Lost
London Scottish and Bedford Blues went into the break locked at 7-all. However, the game unfolded in the second forty. In the first half Bedford only beat 5 defenders, this jumped to 8 in the second half as the game opened up and they looked to stretch their lead.
London Scottish’s held a lot of the ball but were unable to make the most of it throughout the 80 minutes. 98 carries for just 168 metres compared to Bedford’s 77 carries for 311 metres showed the opposition did more with the ball when they had it.
This coupled with Bedford’s 4 clean breaks to London Scottish’s 1 and a superior penalty count. It allowed Bedford to be clinical on the ball and make the most of territory throughout the match.
Clear work ons for Scottish as they travel to Chinnor on Friday night, if they can hold onto the ball as much as they did last Friday, but be clinical with it then they will be deadly. That coming along with a more equitable penalty will see them in good stead.
