London Scottish 11-10 London Welsh
Peter Richards hailed talismanic captain Mark Bright after London Scottish snatched a last-minute winner against fierce rivals London Welsh in the first Exile derby of the season.
Bright went over for the first try of the game before, with minutes to go, Welsh edged in front.
Then, with seconds on the clock, Peter Lydon scored a drop goal from 30 yards to bring the Richmond Athletic Ground crowd to their feet .
Former England scrum half Richards has no doubt Bright, who’s try made it six for the season, is his most vital player and the one who his teammates look up to.
“He is an inspiration to the rest of the team, he is a fantastic rugby player and a great leader, the epitome of a good club man,” he said.
The head coach also admitted beating their neighbours meant more than most victories.
“They only train 100 yards away from us, it is a fierce rivalry so beating someone like that is certainly a special feeling,” he said.
Scottish stayed third with the win behind Bristol and Yorkshire Carnegie, but Richards refused to entertain talk of promotion.
“Absolutely not, we are only five games in to a 22-game season, all we can do is focus on our next game which is Cornish Pirates in eight days time,” he said.
Welsh coach Rowland Phillips thought his side had it won after Darren Waters’ late try, but lamented his players’ lack of concentration at the end.
“They have to learn, you have to get the game won. But we still have this naivety of being able to lose games we have already won,” he said.
“We scored the try, we got the lead and then still did not show the composure to finish the game off, that is the frustration.”
Phillips added that even the Scottish coaching staff, who were close to him at the time, thought the game was over after Waters’ try.
His side must bounce back from their second successive loss for the trip to Nottingham on Friday.
Scottish have their eyes focussed on making it five victories in a row when they face Cornish Pirates on Sunday.
Feature image of Mark Bright, courtesy of London Scottish TV, via Youtube, with thanks
