Unbeaten at Castle Park since last April, Doncaster looked on course to extend that run to 13 matches when they led 13-3 at the start of the second period.
But Jersey refused to give up the fight and they made it through to the last eight of the B&I for the first time when Fautua Otto finished off a well-orchestrated attack in the 79th-minute.
‘When we spoke before the game, and again at half-time, we said it was literally going to come down to determination, and who was going to crack. It could have gone either way,’ Biljon said.
‘I was really pleased with the way we played at the death. Teams can tighten up and go to their scrum or to their maul but in the last few lineouts we came off the top and shared the responsibility between backs and forwards. The boys were calm and composed and executed what they needed to do.’
Given the recent history of tight games between the sides, including two draws this season, there was always the potential for a dramatic finish.
Even so, credit must go to Biljon and his assistant, Steve Boden, for the way in which they’d mentally prepared the players for such an event.
As per competition rules, the draw for the quarter-finals – although yet to be officially confirmed – should be as follows:
Leinster A v Bristol
Yorkshire Carnegie v London Welsh
Bedford v Jersey
Cornish Pirates v Doncaster Knights
‘We’d put them in a scenario in training during the week where we had to build the phases and score with three minutes to go. We ran through the same moves and it came off for us today,’ he said.
‘I am really proud of the guys. For me it was pretty emotional up there in the stand, I was on the edge all of the time.
‘For the club to get into the quarter-finals is huge, and it’s an even bigger achievement to do that by coming away from home and beating a team that’s second in the league.’
On-loan Bath fly-half Rory Jennings couldn’t have asked for a better start to his Jersey career after setting Otto up for the match-winner with his first touch of the ball.
‘It was off the back of a great maul from the forwards, they’ve been training really hard all week. They drove from just outside the 22 to five metres out so that made it a bit easier for me and Otto went over at the end and the boys went nuts which was great,’ the former England international said.
‘The boys are buzzing to get that quarter-final and hopefully we’ll kick on from here.’
