Following a tough outing against Cornish Pirates this past weekend, London Scottish will look to hit back and hit back hard against a resurgent Worcester Warriors at a packed out Sixways on Friday night.
We sat down with head coach Joe Gray as he reviewed last weekend’s game and previewed a trip to Worcester Warriors.
“We were extremely frustrated last weekend, we had opportunities and got held up a couple of times which has been a bit of the story this season. We actually went into half time that we could exert some pressure and turn the game. However, when we came out for the second half we didn’t use the wind and gave yellow cards away.
As a blueprint, we didn’t want a slow game and didn’t want a set-piece game but with both sides ill discipline we gave them exactly that.”
The game on Saturday saw 34 penalties and 7 yellow cards given away by both sides. With both London Scottish and Cornish Pirates spending time down to 13 men, it damaged the Exiles more than the Pirates as the away side took their chances much better.
Cornish Pirates dominated the set piece battle, leading the league in mauls won and maul penalties won. They also excelled in the tight exchanges, with a tackle completion of 85.5% and the highest number of tackle turnover across the league in round 4.
Looking ahead to Worcester Warriors, Scottish know they are going to have to be on their metal against a full time outfit who are chomping at the bit to show their worth back in front of their home fans.
“They’ve come with a style that they want to play. They are going to throw it around and move the ball at every opportunity. They’ve come back into the league and want to show their fans some good rugby which I love to see.
What comes with that is some errors. Ultimately, when we’ve beaten the best teams, we’ve exerted dominance and forced lots of errors and that’s what we need to do on Friday night.”
Since returning to the Champ Worcester have lead the league in defenders beaten with 124 across the first four rounds. Abdul-Khalik Akenzua-Al-Kareem has also beaten more defenders than any other player with 23 this season and 13 in the latest round.
This is backed up with a strong physical game, Worcester have maintained a 100% success rate at scrum time. They also led the league in carries last week with 155 showing their propensity to play and hold onto the ball.
London Scottish however, will look to exert their style of play this weekend. Territory and a strong kicking game will be crucial, Fraser Honey has kicked over 1000m this season (5th most in the league). He also showed his ability to find grass last round with six of his kicks bouncing which was the most in the leauge.
