The Reds made it three ‘full-house’ wins from as many outings in this season’s Championship, dismantling their hosts London Scottish with a brutal second half display.
Emerging from the ‘sheds’ at the Richmond Athletic Ground with just a five-point lead after the break, the visitors ran in six tries in 16 minutes, including a six-minute hat-trick for Will Brown in his first competitive outing of the new season.
Eoghan Clarke finished a well-worked attacking lineout to give the Island side the lead, with Russell Bennett converting. Otherwise the Exiles were strong in defence, although not without cost as both starting props were forced from the fray by the end of the first quarter.
Alun Lawrence added a second for the Reds, but on the stroke of half-time Scottish got back into the game thanks to a try by scrum-half Ed Hoadley, converted by Harry Sheppard to leave the half-time scoreboard at 7-12.
With the visitors re-taking the field several minutes before their hosts, a superb run by James Elliott brought a third try within 60 seconds of the restart; straight afterwards, another attack yielded the bonus point as Dan Barnes went over against his old club.
Brown then took over with the second hat-trick of his Jersey career, matching the game against Coventry last December, showing great finishing skill to outstrip the visiting defence for his first, winning the race to touch down a loose ball. The winger accepted a scoring pass for his second and then picked off an interception. When skipper Lewis Wynne powered over the Reds had reached a half-century, and the clock was only showing 55 minutes.
The final quarter was less eventful, although the closing stages brought a yellow-card for Exiles flanker Brian Tuilagi after a tip-tackle, a try for Reds’ replacement James Hadfield as he broke from the back of a maul, and consolation tries for the hosts from Robbie McCallum and Zach Clow.
Director of Rugby Harvey Biljon praised his squad’s reaction to some of the frustration of the first half by coming out and producing a clinical display to finish the game, while Exiles’ Bryan Redpath admitted that the pressure absorbed by his side in the first half had taken its toll later in the game, compounded by some key errors.
The Reds flew back from Southampton on Saturday evening and had already turned their attention to their next game, with Cornish Pirates visiting the Island on Friday evening.
LONDON SCOTTISH: Anderson; Ferdinand, Manihera, McCallum, Gillespie; Sheppard, Hoadley; Chilvers, Wallis, Rees, Bridge, Wilkinson, Tuilagi (YC 71), Charnock, Hoadley.
Replacements: Mason, Els, Gratton, Southon, Cuthbert, Petrozzi, Notton, Clow
JERSEY REDS: Van Breda (Owen 38); Woollett, Powell, Barnes (McHenry 61), Brown; Bennett, Elliott (Mitchell 63); Owen (Grahamslaw h-t), Clarke (Hadfield 55), Longwell (Weatherby 55), Bain (Dun 61), Scott (Cook h-t), Argyle 55, Wynne (c), Lawrence.
REFEREE: Simon Harding. Assistants: Shane Lewis, Joe James
Half Time: 7-12
Attendance: 525
Scorers
London Scottish
Tries: Hoadley 40, McCallum 75, Clow 78
Conversions: Sheppard 40, Notton 75, 78
Jersey Reds
Tries: Clarke 9, Lawrence 27, Elliott 41, Barnes 43, Brown 48, 51, 54, Wynne 56, Hadfield 73
Conversions: Bennett 9, 41, 43, 48, 51, 56
