The south of England hosted one of world rugby’s biggest-ever shocks on Saturday evening, but further north in Yorkshire the script was rather less surprising.
A close tussle between the Reds and their Doncaster Knight hosts featured several rolling maul tries, some flashing glimpses of running potential and several missed opportunities, and ultimately a 4:1 split of match points after another half-time Jersey lead ebbed away.
On a perfect late summer day for running rugby, the game began at a suitably frenetic pace with some adventurous play by the hosts to use the possession they dominated during the first five minutes. Jersey’s defence held firm and the visitors soon showed their counter-attacking potential when a grubber kick from halfway eluded the Knights’ defence and Fautua Otto would have scored had he not knocked on five metres from the try-line, unaware perhaps that he could have taken an extra half-second to gather the ball or kick it forward into the in-goal area.
Jersey knew the threat posed by Doncaster’s Dougie Flockhart from the kicking tee – the right wing had landed all seven of his penalty goals this season to add to a 200-plus points haul last season. But pressure will often lead to penalties, and both Flockhart and Brendan Cope were given early opportunities, which they landed.
Several penalties won by Jersey were kicked to the corner in an attempt to secure points via the rolling maul. On the first two occasions this came to nothing, but the third time the Islanders’ pack got everything right and Nick Haining claimed the score.
Cope added the conversion and a later penalty, while Flockhart kept the scoreboard ticking over for his side with two penalties; the second came after a rampaging 50-metre run by former Jersey flanker Latu Maka’afi, well tackled in the end by Cope, as the diminutive fly-half showing he had defensive ability to add to his kicking game. The Tongan had already scored three tries this season, and soon added another when the home side had the chance to show what their rolling maul could do and rumbled over.
Jersey came close to adding a second try when Haining broke through but a potential scoring pass to Joel Dudley was just a fraction late and intercepted. Soon afterwards, a series of lineout drives brought a yellow card for Knights’ hooker Ben Hunter after a string of team offences, and then a try for Nacho Lancuba as the below-strength home pack had no answer to Jersey’s maul power. There was a final opportunity for a similar try in the closing seconds of the half, but the opportunity was lost.
The Jersey back-line had shown the willingness to run the ball where possible, and within two minutes of the restart this resulted in a thrilling try. Full-back Rich Lane leapt to make a towering catch from a high ball near half-way and recovered his balance to slip the ball to Ross Adair. The Ulsterman scorched forward and with Doncaster running out of defenders, the next pass was always likely to be a scoring one, especially as it was fellow speedster Tom Howe who was on hand to take it and complete the job.
Cope added his fifth successful kick from as many attempts and Jersey had an 11-point cushion, but once again the home side wasted little time in recovering. Flockhart’s penalty reduced the margin with four minutes, and soon afterwards he set up the platform for another mauled Maka’afi try.
Jersey clung to their lead, now just a single point, for 17 minutes, although the home forwards began to get the better at scrummage time and were slowly wresting control of the game from their opponents. Otto, who earlier was perhaps fortunate to escape a yellow card after being adjudged to have knocked on deliberately in seeking an interception, made an ambitious attempt to run the ball out of defence, but this ended in a loose pass and another penalty concession, and this time the home side span the ball wide and full-back Sam Edgerley scored in the corner.
There were still around ten minutes for Jersey to retake the lead and come away with a win, but the visitors failed to cash in on limited opportunities. The best chance was through an attacking lineout, but replacement hooker Nick Selway’s throw was deemed not straight and the chance was lost. Once they regained the possession, the home forwards were in no mood to surrender the ball until the referee advised that time was up.
ALTHOUGH disappointed to see his side beaten at Castle Park on Saturday, Jersey head coach Harvey Biljon was keen to focus on the positives.
Content with a losing bonus point in the 31-27 reverse to Doncaster Knights, the South African coach was pleased with the attacking intent he saw from his team.
Said Biljon: ‘These games are decided by small margins and although we are disappointed there are a lot of positives that we will take from what was always going to be a tough away trip to Doncaster.
‘We showed some fantastic attacking endeavour, both through our maul and by counter-attacking, and we came away with a bonus point.
‘There were some mistakes and missed opportunities, but we’re not going to be pointing fingers – we want individuals to put their hands up and realise that their decisions can affect the team.’
Doncaster director of rugby Clive Griffiths added: ”It was another nerve-jangler. I think we were ahead 74-73 over previous games, so we knew there wouldn’t be much in it.
‘We had to come from behind but we have made a bit of a habit of that and have a never-say-die attitude. I told the boys at half-time it was one of the worst displays I could remember, but at least we were only four down. Soon afterwards it was 11, but that’s still not a great deal in rugby – things can change in a heartbeat.’
Jersey’s Jack Moates said: ‘Our last attacking lineout was a big moment, but we should have had the game won by then. It was frustrating to lose and we need to cut our error count.
‘We’ll be back at home and we will back ourselves against Bristol – we know what happened at St Peter against Worcester last season, and we want to make our home ground a fortress. Maybe Bristol could be a little complacent and we’ll be looking to upset the form book.’
Former Jersey player Latu Maka’afi, now of Doncaster, said: ‘I think we were a little lucky to win – we were making it easy for Jersey in the first half, but we improved in the second.
‘I think Jersey have improved from last season and they are a very tough team to play against.’
