JERSEY RFC are guaranteed at least a play-off place for London I following the clinical destruction of Sevenoaks, 65-0, at St Peter on Saturday.
While new boys Luke Le Sueur and Mark Livesey both touched down on their league debuts, fellow three-quarters Steve O’Brien, Keiaho Bloomfield and Ryan Morgan also scored while there were tries in the forwards from man of the match Graham Bell, Talite Vaioleti, Latu Maka’afi and - a rarity - a try by prop Jon Brennan.
Stand-off Jon Swift converted six of the ten tries.
‘We showed today how we wanted to play,’ said coach Barry George afterwards, ‘above the heavy conditions. That’s the kind of rugby this team is capable of, with the threes moving the ball wide and gelling with a mobile back row.
‘The new boys fitted in well. It’ll be hard to drop them from the team now.’
Sevenoaks’ team manager, Hils Everitt, wished Jersey every success in their efforts to win promotion but also praised her team’s commitment. Sevenoaks, bottom of the division, will be relegated. However, at no time did they succumb to the inevitable.
‘I was disappointed, and at one time could see a score of 80-plus looming. We were out-muscled and our lack of fitness really showed. But in the second half we kept them out for a full 20 minutes. Jersey have five or six exceptional players. We’re all amateurs. But that’s not to take anything away from Jersey. They deserved their win.’
The first try came in the sixth minute following 90 per cent of Jersey pressure. Centre Keiaho Bloomfield sucked in the defence before playing a delightful inside pass to winger Ryan Morgan, who ran in under the posts. Jon Swift converted.
Bloomfield was then instrumental in creating the second try when he bore down on the opposition threes before a weighted pass to Swift was tucked inside to Steve O’Brien - out with injury for the last six weeks - who accelerated to score.
By now it was already one way traffic, and when Talite Vaioleti peeled away to score from a catch and drive in the 21st minute, Jersey were comfortably ahead. Swift made it 19-0 with the conversion.
Following a quick tap-penalty in the 38th minute, Jon Brennan scored try No 4, following neat hands from Nathan Kemp and Bell, making the half-time score 26-0 with four tries and three conversions.
Playing up the slope in the second half, Jersey already had the game done and dusted and, for the first time since Christmas, the club’s 1st XV were playing with smiles on their faces.
‘Yes; the team are playing with freedom today, which they haven’t been doing for quite some time,’ said director of rugby, Dai Burton. ‘We still have to win our next two games convincingly, before the play-offs. But playing with confidence gives the team that extra edge.’
And, in the second half, Jersey’s belief in themselves, plus superior handling skills, saw them run in another six tries.
Teenage fullback Mark Livesey, who didn’t put a foot wrong all game, scored try No 5 in the 45th minute following a long pass across the threes by Jon Swift. Bloomfield scored next on the right, having brushed aside two less than effective challenges. Graham Bell strolled under the posts for try No 7 before Morgan’s acceleration past a static defence made a try for Luke Le Sueur, and there was still time for tries from Latu Maka’afi and Livesey, in the 78th minute, on the overlap.
The nearest Sevenoaks came to a try all afternoon was a half-break by Tim Golds in the 21st minute before Ryan Morgan brought him down two metres from the line.
So all in all, and playing on a clogging, muddy pitch, Jersey were by far the better side and deserve their tilt at promotion to London I. And, as Barry George said afterwards, ‘both teenagers (Le Sueur and Livesey) stood up to the challenge. It’ll be hard to leave them out next time around.’
Jersey: Jim Brimelow, Nathan Kemp, Jon Brennan, John Allo, Talite Vaioleti, Kern Yates, Latu Maka’afi, Graham Bell, James Cooper, Jon Swift, Luke Le Sueur, Keiaho Bloomfield, Steve O’Brien, Ryan Morgan, Mark Livesey. Replacements: Josh Chamier, Peter O’Connor, Toby Clyde-Smith, Ben Harvey.
JRA League: Jersey 2nds 67, Les Quennevais Sharks 5.
Hampshire U15 Division I: Jersey RFC 5, Winchester 19.
Article posted on 31st March, 2008 - 12.00am
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