Kerr hat-trick fires Doncaster to another five-point home win
18th April 2026
Doncaster Knights produced an excellent display against London Scottish to claim another five points at home with a 34–5 victory.
It was a stalemate for the opening 20 minutes, with both teams defending well but neither side firing in attack. It was the visitors who found their way over the line first, as a clever dummy from Jimmy Staples opened the space for him to score. 0–5.
Scottish were then denied any further points for the remainder of the game as the Knights began to open up in attack and remained clinical in defence.
Bunting kicked a penalty into the corner to give the Knights a five-metre lineout, and after a dominant maul, Ben Chapman managed to drive his way over after the inclusion of a few backs added the final bit of power. Dolly added the conversion. 7–5.
The Knights were dominant at scrum time on many occasions, and a scrum penalty on the 30-minute mark allowed Bunting to kick to touch. The Knights were back inside the five-metre line, but a knock-on meant Scottish had a scrum. However, Doncaster continued to graft and, straight from the scrum, held up the ball carrier and stripped possession. The ball was then moved quickly out wide and Kerr powered over in the corner. 12–5.
A highlight of the night saw prop Logovi’i Mulipola break into space and carry the ball from the 22-metre line to within five metres. The crowd loved it and roared him on, but Scottish did well to tackle him just short of the line.
Half-time score: 12–5.
Veainu opened the second half by reminding Castle Park of his talent. Bennett put in a lovely chip through Scottish’s defensive line, and as it bounced awkwardly, Veainu stretched out one hand, juggled the ball, secured it, and grounded it over the line. 17–5.
Kerr then claimed his second of the game from a brilliant team effort. Adam Hopkinson made an impressive take under the high ball, beating a winger and keeping hold of possession. The Knights then moved the ball out to Bennett, who spotted space in the backfield. He put boot to ball looking for the 50:22. His kick looked set to go out, but out of nowhere Kerr showed impressive pace to gather it before it reached touch and race away to score in the corner. 22–5.
Five minutes later, Kerr secured his hat-trick. It all started on the opposite wing with some brilliant Veainu footwork. He stepped through defenders before offloading to Rhys Tait. Tait chipped the ball up the wing and the forwards did the hard work at the breakdown to retain possession. With the Knights now inside the 22, they moved the ball wide, and Bunting’s excellent long pass out to Kerr allowed him to finish his third try. 27–5.
Rokoduguni then showed his class to ignite further momentum for Doncaster. He perfectly timed his tackle on a player catching a high ball, leaving him exposed, before immediately jumping over to jackal the ball and win a penalty. Bunting kicked the Knights back into the 22.
A handful of phases later, the Knights had a scrum under the posts. Alex Dolly produced a lovely dummy to open the gap and go through to the line. He converted his own try to leave the final score at 34–5.
The Knights have a break next week, however you can catch the Yorkshire Academy in action at Castle ePark as they take on Northampton Saints Academy in three games. On Saturday 25th April, U16s game one, 12:30PM, U16’s game two, 1:45pm and u17s 3:30PM.
The following weekend sees Doncaster take on Caldy away, before returning to Castle Park on Saturday 9th May to face Nottingham. (Note: this fixture is a 3pm KO due to all league games being played at the same time). Secure your tickets here!
