AS anyone with even the remotest interest in Jersey rugby will be aware, tomorrow is going to be a big day on the pitch at St Peter. The Island XV, the Reds, will confront Loughborough and the winners of the game will go on to play next season in National League One.

With such significant promotion at stake, the game will be hard-fought and both sides will be under no illusion about the nature of the challenge or the quality of the opposition that they face. That said, our home team’s track record is one of which they, their coaches and their supporters can be proud. Our players will, moreover, still be buoyed up by their recent 73 to 5 annihilation of Guernsey in the Siam Cup.

Tomorrow’s game promises to be a great sporting spectacle and will, without doubt, attract a capacity crowd. It is equally certain that the Jersey element of that crowd will support our side with confidence-boosting enthusiasm. Indeed, fervour on the sidelines might well prove to be a deciding factor.

That Jersey are so close to moving into the third tier of English club rugby is a tribute not only to the quality of our players but also to the dedication of those who direct their training and development, to the generosity of sponsors, and to the loyalty of the many other enthusiasts who contribute to the great success of the club.

There is, however, more to Island rugby than the fortunes of its principal team or its entertainment value for those who follow the game closely. The Reds are very much a Jersey team and are capable of attracting widespread support, to the extent that their performance is of interest even to those who never stand on the St Peter sidelines.

Rugby, a sport played with passion and, given its intense physicality, surprising good humour, has captured Islanders’ imaginations to a remarkable extent in recent years. Tomorrow could well produce a major reward for all those who have worked so hard to make this come to pass.

It remains only to wish our team the very best of luck for the coming encounter and to hope – with a high degree of optimism – that they will acquit themselves with the aplomb, determination, sportsmanship and expertise which we have witnessed so often in so many games.