Ahead of a massive clash on Friday night up in Oxfordshire, we sat down with Head Coach Joe Gray and back row forward Jake Spurway. This match signals the end of the first block of fixtures in the Champ season. London Scottish sit with one win from six games and desperate to break their duct against Chinnor.
Looking back at the game against Bedford, Joe Gray praised a strong first half performance. “We put in a really good showing, we had a couple of opportunities and were pretty clinical. Our kicking game was on point. We won some balls back and got a couple of good 50/22s and were really physical.
Second half sadly, we came off it a little bit. Our kicking was a bit off and got a couple of harsh calls with one or two switch offs. However, we’re moving in the right direction against a top side but we need to up it again against Chinnor.”
“It’s been a tough month with the injuries we’ve had. We’ve picked up about three injuries a game. We haven’t had any players from Harlequins either. It has been a tough period, but I’m really proud of the lads and the way they’ve gone about it.”
Looking ahead to Chinnor on Friday night, Joe has said “they are very good at the kick battle and put in some very good defensive displays. They pride themselves on defence and work rate, it’s going to be a huge part of the game and how we win the physicality battle.”
Back row forward, Jake Spurway joined the Club last season from Durham University and impressed in the first half of the campaign. However, a serious injury cut his season short, he’s picked up another knock early this year but is back and ready for a big Friday night display.
“I took a knock on my back a couple of weeks ago so that took a bit of rehab. I’m good to go this week and excited to be back out there. Injury is always frustrating, but it’s been a shaky start to the season for all of us.
We’re looking at the process each week, there’s pockets of really good stuff and plenty to work on but we’re heading in the right direction. We’re just focussing on getting better each week which we think we are doing.”
Speaking on Chinnor “they’ve started really well and they are hard to beat at their place. So it’s a real challenge for us in a big moment in the season. We’re not underestimating the importance of this game and we’ll put our best foot forward.”
“They are a strong kicking side and it’s looking like a wet and windy evening on Friday so that’s going to be a massive part of the game. We are looking at how we can use our gameplan our strengths to win a really important game.”
As Joe and Jake illuded to, the physicality and kicking battles are going to be crucial on Friday night. Luke Carter, Chinnor scrum half, has lead the league in kicks in play this season with 67 and has the most amount of box kicks to his name in 2025/26 with 52.
The line out will also be crucial as Chinnor look to put pressure on the opposition. Jamie Campbell leads the league in line out steals with 9 out of the 14 that Chinnor have nicked this season.
London Scottish will look to counter this with a strong kicking game themselves. 2nd in the league last round with 929m kick metres and 34 kicks in play sees them be one of the most proficient kicking sides.
Will Talbot-Davies also contributed two 50/22s last Friday night which he will be looking to deliver again against Chinnor tomorrow night.
In the physicality battle London Scottish will also look to add to their 18 tackle turnovers this season which is the second most in the league.
