TWO tries in the last five minutes earned Jersey a 2-2 draw with England yesterday – and their first point at the touch World Championships in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

In what manager Morag Obarska described as a disappointing performance by the Collins Stewart mixed squad, England had dictated the play to lead 1-0 at the break and 2-0 shortly afterwards.

But a late surge in the closing minutes brought tries from Sarah Kerley and 16-year-old Michael Le Bourgeois.

‘We couldn’t quite get going against England,’ said Obarska, who said the team were badly hit by an injury reoccurance to their top player and coach Dan McDowall, whose World Cup ended within minutes of the kick-off.

‘We’d rested Dan in the opening match hoping he’d be fit for the England game, but he went down with a leg injury on the first play.

We struggled to switch on from then on.’ The second game of the day brough a heavy defeat – 16-1 against New Zealand – but an entirely different viewpoint from Obarska.

‘Jersey played the game of their lives.

Strange to say given the score, but they played fantastically well.

I’d gone into the game hoping to keep the score below 20 as the Kiwis have been spanking other teams 25-0.

But the performance geed everybody up, with Ben Small’s try being a marvellous moment enjoyed by the whole crowd here.’ Jersey, the European mixed silver medallists, then took on another Southern Hemisphere giant in Australia, going down 18-0.

Jersey also play three times today- and will be expecting to get points from two of them.

Their opponents, in playing order are Switzerland, England then the fantastic New Zealanders.

Return games with Australia, Switzerland and South Africa are scheduled for Saturday ahead of the quarter-final knock-out stage.

Squad: Dan McDowall (player/coach), Mark White (vice captain), Arnou Helmholt Kneisel (captain), Chris Veal, Mark Knight, Simon di Meo, Ben Small, Dan Curzons, Michael Le Bourgeois, Zoe Smart, Chrissie Hefford, Claire Le Maistre, Rena Nelson, Sarah Kerley, Suzy Shore, Giselle Gosselin.

Table after five rounds PWLDForAgDiffPts New Zealand55008067415 Australia541074106413 South Africa532036261011 England51311446-328 Jersey51311446-328 Switzerland5050387-845