Exiles derby: London Welsh vs London Scottish

From the Scottish offy site:

"London Welsh v London Scottish - Saturday 2pm: Preview

After a weekend off from league rugby, London Scottish completes the first half of the regular season's campaign with the "Battle of the Exiles" away at our close and long time rivals London Welsh. In what promises to be a very tough and competitive fixture for Scottish, the team over their recent league fixtures has shown sufficient skill and flair to come back over the Park with the points at the final whistle.

London Scottish goes into Saturday's derby match with confidence and heart gained from their recent form, which has seen them gain seven points from their last four fixtures, especially in the way which they dealt with a stubborn and resolute Esher side. London Welsh are in many ways a side Scottish can learn from as they have established themselves as one of the leading contenders for the Championship title. Welsh over the last few seasons have developed a reputation for being a strong outfit which has exploited the pace and rugby skills which is clearly evident across the whole of their squad. They have benefited over recent seasons through their close relationship with the other Exiles team, London Irish and used the dual registration system to introduce a number of very good young Premiership players to bolster their existing squad. Add in a small number of South Sea Island internationalists and it demonstrates why Welsh have been able to make the progression they have achieved year on year.

For the more senior supporters of Scottish the match on Saturday will bring back many memories of games gone past between these famous old rivals. From the early seventies when both Scottish and Welsh were littered with internationalists and British & Irish Lions players and the matches were sometimes even considered to be international trial matches, through to the last time the teams played one another for league points in the 1989/90 season when Scottish came out on top 18 -14. A repeat of this score line would certainly be welcomed by those following the fortunes of Scottish. The match on Saturday is sure to be well attended and a crowd of over 2000 could well be on the cards. From a form perspective both teams go into this match with differing perspectives, Scottish will be looking to build on the success achieved from their victory over Esher two weeks ago, whereas Welsh will be looking for their first home league success since the 24th of September when they overcame Nottingham 34 -23. Scottish have been on an extensive learning curve since they achieved promotion to the Championship this season and the step up in the quality and intensity of the play has been clear for all who have seen their games so far.

Since we are at the half way point in the regular season we will now take stock of how the league has developed this season. Are the predicted challengers where they expected to be at this point in season or have any of the teams under achieved? Clearly Leeds Carnegie faced challenges as they entered the start of the season and this was reflected in their early season results. Leeds were perceived to one of the major contenders for the title, but their recent results have improved dramatically, but the question now is whether or not their early season dip will hinder their progression back to the Premiership. As for the other early season contenders such as Cornish Pirates, Bedford and Bristol they are more or less in the positions expected, however Bristol have to a certain extent exceeded expectations, given the turbulent last season they encountered.

For Scottish they are currently 10th in the league table and there will be a number of Scottish supporters who will consider that they are unlucky not to be higher. They can point to the two point losses against Pirates and Nottingham and the 9th minute injury try against Plymouth, however they have dusted themselves down, brought quality players in such as internationalists Augstin Gosio and Alfredo Lalanne, together with the exciting prospects in Guy Armitage and Eliot Daly. This season has been a journey, which has some distance to run and the second half of the season will bring more success to Scottish as the players adapt more to the significant step up in standards.

Scottish supporters are reminded that the kick off for the match on Saturday is 2pm, due to Welsh not having floodlights, so make sure you get down to the Old Deer Park early and let's make the Scottish team hear the fantastic support from the sidelines. A mouth watering game is expected and the team will be looking to make sure that Scottish has the local bragging rights come 4pm on Saturday afternoon. Enjoy the game and see you all there. C'mon Scottish!"

Best of luck to Scottish, though I do fancy Welsh to be honest. Bristol have already almost won more games than last season, though the past three weeks have seen us fall off the pace dramatically. Other than that the only real surprises have been that Bedford have not looked so sharp this season, and that the league is more competitive than ever. Esher may be winless, but they are no mugs. To me the only standout team has been the Pirates, I can see them winning it. If only there was some sponsorship and more exposure (i.e money) this league could be pretty good.

London Welsh: 15. Seb Jewell, 14. Will Hurrell, 13. Hudson Tonga’uiha*, 12. Simon Whatling, 11. Joe Ajuwa, 10. Gordon Ross*, 9. Rob Lewis, 1. Shawn Pittman*, 2. Vili Ma’asi*, 3. Billy Moss, 4. Adam Brown, 5. Martin Purdy, 6. Ed Siggery, 7. Mike Denbee, 8. Lee Beach.

Replacements: 16. Nathan Morris, 17. Marc George, 18. Mike Powell, 19. Ed Jackson, 20. Ben Stevenson, 21. Alex Davies, 22. Edd Thrower.

Scotsman Ross captains the Welsh exiles, with former Scarlet and Harry Potter character, Siggery, starting on the blindside on loan from London Irish

PS "London Welsh will re-enact the first-ever fixture in the club’s 126-year history when London Scottish make the short trip to Old Deer Park on Saturday (2pm).

Scottish provided London Welsh’s first-ever opponents in October 1885, winning by a goal and a try to no score at the Athletic Ground, while Saturday’s Championship clash will be the fourth league meeting between the two great rivals."

London Scottish:
15 Gosio 14 Heeks 13 O Holmes 12 O Brown 11 Howells
10 J Brown 9 Lalanne (c)
1 Liffchak 2 Kwasnicki 3 Thiede
4 Rudzki 5 Thomas
6 Andrews 7 Lonergan 8 Kellard

Replacements:
Clarke, Stanfield, MacKenzie, Josh Thomas Brown, Calder, Amor, Holgate.

Injury to Olly Grove, and recalls for Guy Armitage and Elliot Daly to London Irish and London Wasps respectively, see a much-changed backline for Scottish, with Matt Heeks, switching his scrum-half jersey for a slot on the wing, with the electric David Howells on the other wing. In the pack, Ben Lonergan takes over from Lewis Calder at openside

HHHOOOOOOWWWWWEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLSSSYYYYYY

Gordon Ross plays for London Welsh!! Disgraceful.

Been meaning to say, really enjoyed the day. A close game of decent quality, won by the last kick of the game, lovely weather, I liked the ground and then it was a short walk to a pub showing the Gloucester - Quins game.

Its a great ground, wonderful clubs too...! Glad you enjoyed a good day out.

18 - 16 to london welsh...!