Rugby: McKern joins the pack

Following an ankle injury sustained by Campbell during Jersey’s home defeat to Bristol – and further knocks picked up by captain Alex Rae and Pierce Phillips – cover in the second row has been slim on the ground of late, but 2.01m McKern, who is English qualified through his Shrewsbury-born father, brings with him more than enough experience to fill the void.

The 26-year-old has been a member of the UC Vikings squad in Canberra for the last two seasons, playing in the National Rugby Championship, and has also represented the Brumbies in the Pacific Rugby Cup against the likes of Fiji, Tonga and Samoa.

McKern, who has been training with his new colleagues at St Peter this week, joins on a 19-month contract which will run through until the end of the 2016/17 season.

‘Dave has all the attributes to become a real asset to our pack, and my expectation is he will thrive in Jersey and have the chance to take his game to the next level over the rest of this season and into 2016/17,’ said Biljon. ‘He’ll be in contention for selection as soon as he’s settled – admittedly that’s partly a factor of the injury situation we have, but I expect to have some tricky calls to make once Dave is established and we have a full set of locks available for selection.’

McKern could well be included in Jersey’s squad for this Saturday’s home encounter against Bedford Blues.

Meanwhile, former Red Latu Makaafi has been named on the five-man shortlist for September’s Greene King IPA Player of the Month award after rising to the top of the league’s try-scoring charts with six touchdowns for Doncaster Knights. The Tongan, who added a further two to his tally on Saturday against Nathan Hannay’s Ealing, lines up alongside Bristol’s Tom Varndell, George Perkins (Bedford), Peter Lydon (London Scottish) and Aaron Pinches, who was instrumental in helping Moseley to victory over London Scottish and proved to be a thorn in the side of Jersey’s defence last weekend.

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