Kvesic finds his feet to make it easy for Coventry

■ By PAUL SMITH

London Scots .. 19pts

Tries: Mpiko 60, Ferdinand 78, 80

Conversions: Sheppard 60, Lloyd-Seed 78

Coventry ………. 45pts

Tries: Nayalo 8, Ma’asi 28, Nkwocha 49, 76, Martin 65, Lane 68

Conversions: Richman 8, 28, 49, 65, 68, 76

Penalties: Richman 36

A POWERFUL display from their pack which saw Obi Nkwocha score twice and Matt Kvesic produce a stand-out performance steered Coventry to a comfortable opening night win at Scottish.

Having outpaced opponents with flamboyant running rugby in recent seasons, Cov’s 2024/25 vintage hinted at a different approach following the arrival of forwards expert Steve Boden.

An Exiles side containing seven Harlequins loan players lost five lineouts against the throw and conceded huge numbers of breakdown penalties which gifted field position and driving lineout opportunities to grateful opponents who took full advantage.

With debutant Aussie fly-half Liam Richman landing a perfect seven kicks from seven, Alex Rae’s six-try side left their head coach a happy man.

“Physically we wore Scottish down with big men carrying and our scrum and maul,” he said. “Although they got a couple of late tries, when the opportunities came we took them well.

“Matt Kvesic was brilliant and Liam Richman controlled the game calmly and kicked very well.”

Cov opened their account through Senitiki Nayalo’s powerful surge from a lineout before a well-constructed maul shunted hooker Suva Ma’asi over for another seven-pointer.

Kvesic won a brilliant turnover penalty metres from his own line to thwart the home side’s best first-half attack after which the visitors extended their interval lead to 17 points through their No.10’s simple penalty.

Cov’s driving lineout continued to be a productive source of points after the break as Nkwocha broke and plunged over from close-range. However the athletic lock was almost immediately despatched to the sin bin for a deliberate slap-down and Scottish used their numerical superiority to drive prop Ntinga Mpiko over for a try which Harry Sheppard upgraded.

Any thoughts of a home comeback ended swiftly as Coventry claimed three more converted tries in an 11-minute purple patch all of which stemmed from Will Lane’s scintillating 25-minute cameo.

Cov’s replacement No.9 sent Jimmy Martin strolling over for the bonus point score with a sublime long pass, then scorched away from the cover for a 60m solo effort before finally releasing Nkwocha for his second with a neat break and offload.

Scottish had the last word through impressive winger Noah Ferdinand who twice raced to the corner following good handling and support lines.