Archers aim to return to winning ways at The Bay
NOTTINGHAM welcome basement side London Scottish to The Bay tonight in the Championship (7.45pm).
It’s a rearranged game from January and Nottingham return to action after one of the more bizarre results in recent memory, being on the losing end of a 3-0 game against Hartpury University.
That result extended Nottingham’s competitive winless streak to three, as their previous two games had ended in unfortunate losses to the high-flying Doncaster Knights and Ealing Trailfinders.
Craig Hammond will want the Green and Whites to put points on the board tonight, though, against London Scottish.
But Scottish should not be taken lightly. Although they sit at the bottom of the table with only a single win all season to their name, that one victory came against table-toppers Ealing Trailfinders in December.
They will also have plenty of motivation as a win would be a huge step towards securing Championship rugby next season, lifting them off the bottom of the table and above Cambridge.
The Richmond-based club have fond memories of playing at The Bay, too, as a narrow victory there last year was enough to avoid the drop on the final day of the season.
Their back row Lewis Barrett will return to The Bay, having spent two years wearing the Green and White jersey before signing with Scottish last summer.
William Brown is another player to keep an eye on. The full-back signed with Scottish last summer after an incredible 14-try season with Jersey Reds. After a tough first half of the campaign in London, the full-back is now up and running with two tries in the last four games.
Nottingham will be looking to counter Brown with a dangerous full-back of their own.
Jordan Olowofela makes only his third start of the season having struggled with injuries since the summer.
Olowofela will be hoping this game will be the springboard he can use to get back to the form that saw him score eight tries for the Archers last season.
Captaining the side once again will be flanker Nathan Tweedy, who has been a reliable constant in the Nottingham scrum all year.
This happens to be the only Championship game played this weekend, with all other teams getting a week off.
And, with both sides desperate to get back to winning ways, it promises to at least be a higher scoring game than last Friday’s encounter with Hartpury.