THE phonelines of Jersey RFC U19 officials have been red hot this week as they hunted hard for a strong team to take on Sidcup in the National Colts Plate tomorrow.

Injuries, sickness and unavailability will not, however, mean Jersey fielding a scratch side in an attempt to reach the fourth round, as several tried and tested players from university have agreed to fill the gaps in the squad.

In fact, although some eight players are missing from the home victory over Twickenham in the last round, it is still an impressive line-up, with senior squad members Joe Ellyatt, Michael Le Bourgeois, Ed Dawson, Mark Livesey, Chris Pople and Ollie Harwood linking up with students Tom Breeze, Will Hunter, Stephen Phelan and Alastair Dickson at the Kent club’s ground.

That is a lot of winning experience to boast of, though fingers will still be crossed that scrum-half Danny McAviney recovers from injury. The other U18 youngsters whom senior head coach Ben Harvey will be casting his eye over tomorrow are Tom Ellis, Leon Pearce, Billy Glover, Tom McCabe, Tom Nuth and Bruno Costa. The team is again backed by Style Group and is coached by Bob Shambrook and Les Small.

• Picture: Tom McCabe leaps high against Petersfield