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2021 | Bedford's Championship Season in Statistics
The 2021 Championship season while an albeit different one to usual, still created the same drama and jeopardy we all love.
It was a unique campaign and one that brought England’s second tier to an even bigger audience through Live Streaming and various individual club initiatives.
Here, read some of the Bedford statistics you may have missed during the campaign…
Club Statistics
Across the shortened 2021 Championship season, a total of 37 players made one or more competitive appearance for Bedford Blues.
There were 22 debutants who took to the field during the campaign as Mike Rayer elected to rotate the squad and give much needed minutes to the squad who were 12 months without rugby before the start of the season.
There were three former Blues academy graduates involved, including once all in the same game as Rob Hardwick, Tom Litchfield and Rich Lane all featured against Jersey Reds.
Most Starts
10 – Only Joe Atkinson and Rich Lane started every game in the Championship campaign.
8 – Ollie Newman, Will Carrick Smith
7 – Elijah Niko, Matt Worley, Will Maisey, Lewis Bean
Most Appearances
10 – The quintet of Joe Atkinson, Rich Lane, Will Maisey, Ed Prowse and Will Carrick Smith featured in every Championship fixture.
9 – Tui Uru, Oli Robinson, Jacob Fields, Ollie Newman, Emmanuel Iyogun
8 – Matt Worley, Elijah Niko
7 – Oli Curry, Lewis Bean, Sean McCarthy
Most minutes on the field
800 - Rich Lane
759 - Joe Atkinson
605 - Will Maisey
602 - Will Carrick Smith
Tries
4 – For the first time in a number of years, Blues ended up with three joint top try scorers; Rich Lane, Pat Tapley and Josh Gillespie.
3 – Jacob Fields
2 – Joe Atkinson, Oli Robinson
1 – Jordan Onojaife, James Fish, Jack Hughes, Ollie Newman, Ryan Olowofela, Matt Worley, Oskar Hirskyj-Douglas, James Lennon, Elijah Niko
Points
54 – Will Maisey topped the charts in his first full season as he edges closer to 1,000 career points.
20 – Rich Lane, Pat Tapley, Josh Gillespie
19 – Tommy Mathews
Top Tackler
In nine of the ten games, Joe Atkinson finished as top tackler (Jack Hughes made more v Nottingham).
457 – The days between Bedford Blues’ defeat to Ampthill on Boxing Day 2019 at Goldington Road and their next competitive home reverse, against jersey Reds on 27th March 2021.
It is the longest unbeaten run at Goldington Road since the club’s formative years, when they went 467 days without a home defeat from the club’s first ever fixture on October 9th 1886 to defeat against H H Casten’s (Ldn) XV on January 18th 1888.
League-wide Statistics
Tries
Bedford Blues scored a total of 28 tries across the Championship campaign, with their tally of 19 at Goldington Road coming in at 5th best throughout the division. Sadly, the tally of just nine on the road comes in at 11th.
Within that, Blues won four Try of the Week competitions, the most of any Championship side. All four of those victories came at home as Mike Rayer’s side again showcased their trademark attacking rugby to great effect.
Points
Will Maisey’s points tally of 54 sees him conclude the campaign as the sixth top scoring kicker, with Jersey’s Brendan Cope finishing as the leading marksman with 74, one clear of Owen Farrell (Saracens) and Sam Olver (Doncaster Knights).
He finishes the campaign as the eighth highest scorer overall, as both Louis Grimoldby (Ampthill) and Joshua Bragman (Hartpury) also contributed tries to leapfrog the Bedford fly-half.
Notable Appearance Milestones
100 – Pat Tapley became the latest member of the illustrious Goldington Road century club when leading the team out against Coventry on the opening day of the campaign.
He said: “It’s an honour to have played this many games for such a prestigious Club and it’s something I never really expected when I first joined in 2013.”
75 – Local lad and former Junior Blues Academy graduate Rich Lane made his 75th appearance during the thrilling 38-10 victory over Richmond, marking the occasion with the Championship’s Try of the Week.
50 – Oli Curry achieved his 50th appearance in the Battle of Bedfordshire victory over Ampthill in the Championship finale. While the result went our way, it didn’t exactly go to plan for Curry who was sent off midway through the first half.
