Horsham V London Welsh match preview

We are back at it after our international break week between rounds 9 and 10.

Round 9 brought another bonus point WIN, the 9th straight five pointer of the season. That was also the 14th game in a row that Welsh have gone unbeaten spreading between this season and last.

This week brings an away trip to Horsham. The sides have met 4 times in league rugby, all coming since project reset in 2017. Welsh taking all 4 wins. Horsham were promoted to level 5 at the end of the 22/23 season, their highest position in the English pyramid since they were founded in 1928.

The last meeting between the sides came almost exactly a year ago on 9 December 2023, at ODP. Welsh romping to a 61-12 bonus point win.

Horsham though, would go on to complete a houdini like escape from relegation last season with a stunning home victory on the last day of the season over league winners Havant! That win was their 5th of the season and  took them off bottom spot and ahead of Bournemouth to 11th place. That was enough to also take them above 11th place in the south eastern leagues on points. With Jersey Reds going into administration from the championship, 11th was enough for survival.

Horsham sit 9th in this season's table as we approach the half way mark; with 15 points coming by way of 2 wins and 1 draw. Last time out Horsham impressed losing only narrowly to 3rd place Wimbledon away from home, 31-29. Horsham are a dangerous side and we can see from their results that they are seldom easily brushed aside.

Welsh have the usual selection headaches this week with so many quality players now putting their hands up for selection and a relatively injury free squad.

Tom Douglas misses out this Weekend as he is out of the country. Tom Williams picked up a small niggle in Round 9 and will be rested as a precaution.

We may see squad rotation but in honesty there are three sides that could be selected from the squad with varying skill sets and all of equal strength.

Steve Shingler is on Women's Prem duty with Ealing and Harri Lang picked up a knee injury in Round 9. This will likely open the door for a return for Tom Hunt, our top try scorer over all of the last 3 seasons! Jacob Butler is also in contention.

Captain Matt Hodgson passed the 100 points mark for the season to date with his 15 points against Stags. He is 76% off the tee for the season.

We have a tie in the top try scorer stakes between Hodgson and flying winger Adam Dunne, both on 6. With no less than 3 players queuing behind then in an orderly fashion on 5 (lang, mcavoy and lloyd).

Welsh have scored 439 points in their 9 games, with only 159 against- an average score of 49 to 17.

Big Andy Black is in contention for his 98th cap as he creeps towards his magic 100 - he would be the first player to achieve the ton since project reset.

There are only 3 sides in the country that remain unbeaten with a full quota of bonus points from each game, from the Premiership to Level 5: London Welsh, Lymm (Nat 2 North) and Rossendale (Regional 1 North West).

The Druids also travel to Horsham for a wonderful double header as they look to bounce back from 2 narrow losses at the top of the London & SE Prem.

Both matches KO off at 2pm and we hope to see as many of the LW faithful at Hammerpond Road as possible.

Keep your eyes peeled for further build up and as ever we will have live commentary via our Twitter X Account on match day.

London Welsh are Coming…..

Yma O Hyd

#lwfamily