London Scottish vs Nottingham

Nottingham Preview - Sunday, 2pm

The Championship Standings
Pos Team Pld W D L F A TF TA TB LB Pts
7 No change (7) Nottingham 17 8 2 7 467 375 49 41 4 4 44
9 No change (9) London Scottish 18 5 0 13 365 469 34 57 2 7 29

By Ian Aitken

On Sunday London Scottish returns to league action with a tasty fixture at home against Nottingham Rugby. This match is the penultimate home league fixture of the regular season and Scottish will be looking to bounce back after their loss at Bedford. Nottingham were involved in the British & Irish Cup Quarter-Finals last weekend and lost heavily away at Cornish Pirates 33 -3.
London Scottish took their first break after playing continuous rugby week on week since the start of September last year and the rest weekend will have given the coaching team time to reflect on the progress that has been made by Scottish during the course of the season. In addition, it will also have given the medical and conditioning staff at the club further time to ensure that the squad will be eager and raring to go into the remaining regular league fixtures of the season, together with the all important relegation play-off matches.

Nottingham Rugby has had a mixed season to date. In the opening fixture they lost out to Bedford Blues by two points at home, but followed this up with three consecutive wins, including their opening fixture in the British & Irish Cup match. The club then went into an inconsistent phase of matches where they lost two fixtures and then subsequently drew two fixtures out of their next four matches in the league. In the reverse fixture against Scottish the home side race away to a 23 - 6 half time lead, however Scottish put in a sterling second half performance, which saw Nottingham struggling to cross the finishing line 33 -31 to gain the win. The performance by Scottish in the second half was excellent and they certainly deserved more than the losing bonus point. Nottingham currently sit 7th in the league table and have lost their last three league fixtures.

The Nottingham side is very much a workman like side with few outstanding stars in their side. The exceptions to this are the former England centre come winger Ayoola Erinle who has been playing on the wing. Another player who fits this category is James Aldridge who represented Japan in the recent World Cup, however has retired from international rugby and is now concentrating on his club career. One player who will be able to give an insight on the Nottingham players is Charlie Hayter who played for Nottingham earlier in the season, primarily on the wing. A recent new recruit at Nottingham is the Kiwi and former Wasps hooker Matt Holloway who has recently been playing back in his native New Zealand.

There is a current Scotland connection between both clubs with them both having representatives in the current Scottish U 20 squad. For Nottingham this is centre Jack Bradford, together with our very own Jamie Stevenson. Both players recently attend a Scotland U20 training squad ahead of the 6 Nations U 20 tournament, which gets started on 3rd of February. Congratulations to both players for receiving this recognition. Whilst on the subject of rugby in Scotland, all at London Scottish send their congratulations to Edinburgh on their fantastic achievement in reaching the Quarter-Finals of the Heineken Cup. With Glasgow also narrowly missing out in a place in the Amlin Cup it has certainly been a tremendous year for the professional sides north of the border in the premier cup competition. I know it's a tall order, but let's hope that Edinburgh can go all the way to the final as I am sure that a large contingent from London Scottish would be lending their support at Twickenham.

With the Championship deadline for signings this Friday, there could well be a flurry of activity in new players joining clubs ahead of the Championship play-offs. With this preview being written ahead of the deadline date there may well be some additions to the Scottish squad, but only time will tell. For Scottish the weeks down time from the rigours of Championship rugby has provided a rest period for all players in the squad and has also provided those on the injury list with additional time to recover from their injuries. There are a number of players on the injury list who are very close to being available for matches and will certainly provide a boost of confidence for the whole squad.

Scottish go into this attractive fixture against a Nottingham side that are very physical in the pack and have a good set of backs who like to throw the ball out wide. They will certainly pose a significant challenge to Scottish, however at home Scottish will be determined to increase their win tally of league matches and improve the clubs prospects going into the play off matches. For all Scottish supporters please make sure that you get down to the RAG on Sunday and note that the kick off is 2pm. C'mon Scottish

London Scottish Form Guide
Date Team Score Team Att
14/1/12 Bedford Blues 43 - 10 London Scottish 2,553
7/1/12 London Scottish 21 - 17 Plymouth 1,189
1/1/12 Leeds 19 - 17 London Scottish 2,306

Nottingham Form Guide
Date Team Score Team Att
22/1/12 Cornish Pirates 33 - 3 Nottingham
8/1/12 Cornish Pirates 26 - 24 Nottingham 2,026
30/12/11 Nottingham 24 - 35 Bristol 2,102

Previous Meetings
Date Home Score Away Att
30/10/11 Nottingham 33 - 31 London Scottish 1,636