THE first time Jersey RFC played Old Mid-Whitgiftians, away from home, they beat them 32-19.
Since then the teams have enjoyed mixed fortunes; Jersey beating Gosport and Fareham 43-10 to move to fourth place in Powergen London South Two a fortnight ago; tomorrow’s visitors going down 52-0 to Thanet, again at home that same day to push them firmly into the relegation zone, second from bottom.
‘No-one is certain how many teams are going to be promoted or relegated this year,’ said JRFC coach Dai Burton, ’so they’ll be coming here wanting to keep their chances alive in the league; although I believe they’re not very good travellers.
‘We know that if we beat them, we could move into third place, because Sevenoaks, who are one point above us, have a difficult game against Guildford.
‘Guildford are second, behind Portsmouth, and a win will guarantee them a runners-up spot, although if Portsmouth slip up in the next three matches, Guildford could go top.’ After three impressive wins in a row, Burton’s team is currently ‘full of running’.
‘We’ve a very mobile side, with pace in the back row, where Neil Carter’s come in, and also in the threes, where we’ve young Ryan Morgan and Mark Le Mottée both on the wing.
‘Ross Allan would have played but he’s injured, although after this game he’s made himself available for the rest of the season.
We’ve strength in depth again on the bench, and we also intend to send out a strong 2nd team against Beeches on Sunday, in the JRA League.
‘Both Beeches and the 2nds are playing really good rugby at the moment, so it could be quite a spectacle, although I’m also looking forward to seeing Jersey Youth take on Les Quennevais, tomorrow at 11 o’clock, in a friendly.
‘Some of the Youth players are making quite an impact on Jersey rugby at the moment.’ Jersey RFC v Old Mid-Whitgiftians is tomorrow at the earlier kick-off time of 2 pm.
Jersey: Marcus Nobes, Josh Chamier, James Brimelow, Roger Quirk, Ian Henderson, Neil Carter, Nathan Kemp, Latu Maka’afi, Dave Miles, Sam Cummins, Ryan Morgan, Steve O’Brien, Mark White, Mark Le Mottée, Gareth Jeffreys.
Replacements: Paul Nayar, Darren Toudic, Peter O’Connor.
Other games: Jersey 2nds v Beeches, Sunday, St Peter, KO 3 pm (JRA league).
Article posted on 24th March, 2006 - 12.00am
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