Doncaster Knights v London Scottish: 'Onwards and upwards' for Knights after opening day defeat

Coventry had three pre-season games and the Knights only had one so it did raise the question whether this was enough preparation for the season?

Knights, of course, were unfortunate after their proposed friendly with Rotherham Titans was called off late in the day due to RFU Covid regulations.

The consensus of opinion is that it is a case of onwards and upwards for the Knights, starting with a convincing performance against London Scottish this weekend at Castle Park.

However, Scottish will feel aggrieved that the scoreline in their 47-7 home defeat to Jersey looked worse than the play suggested and will want to correct that on Saturday.

Will the Knights start to show their strengths against a semi-professional side that did not play last season or will Scottish’s impressive recruitment be effective?

Scottish director of rugby Matt Williams told the club’s website: “We have an incredible combination of exciting new Championship talent, the best National One players in part-time rugby, dual registration players from London Irish and Harlequins all with Premiership experience, and a sprinkling of key old heads, some with international stardust.”

Among the new recruits at Scottish are brothers Fred and Brian Tuilagi, sons of former Leicester Tigers and Samoan legend Freddie Tuilagi.