JERSEY Mixed Open Touch squad retained the Rubis Touch inter-insular trophy with a 9-6 victory over Guernsey on Saturday.
With a touch pitch marked out on Pitch 1 at Jersey Rugby Club, the scene was set for a great day of touch but the changeable weather tried to put a dampener on it.
Jersey took the lead with captain Cole Graham scoring the opening try and, although Guernsey equalised shortly after with a try from Oliver Ward, Jersey powered to a 4-1 lead with tries from Matt Michel, Seren Coombs and Rhys Powell.
Guernsey, however, came back with tries by Hannah Wray and Christa Feltham either side of half-time to bring the score to 4-3.
Jersey stepped up their performance and scored four tries through Ruth Brooks, Archie Le Maistre (2) and Matt Michel, taking the score to 8-4 to Jersey with Wing Lai replying for the Sarnians.
The visitors battled back again with two tries from Ismail Slamang and Wing Lai, to bring the score to 8-6 before Cole Graham completed the scoring.
With both teams heading to the Touch World Cup at Nottingham in July it was a good competitive match.
Jersey coach Mark Knight said: “I was pleased with the result, but there is still work to be done in training ahead of the World Cup.”
The U18 match was a clash of two contrasting teams, with Jersey fielding a mixed gender team between the ages of 14 and 17, but Guernsey fielding a male-only team of older boys.
The home side started the match superbly, showing their skills and knowledge of how to play touch and raced to a 6-2 lead at half-time with tries from Archie Le Maistre (2), Gabe Moore (2), Lyle Pritchard and Luke Caderet.
Guernsey’s first half tries were scored by George Le Roux and George Harris.
The green’s half-time team talk inspired them and Ewan Wakeham scored two tries after the re-start, to bring the score to 6-4.
However, Archie Le Maistre and Harry Le Brocq scored tries for Jersey to re-establish their lead at 8-4.
The strength and pace of the Guernsey U18 players was showing and they scored three tries in a row to put some nerves in the hosts’ camp.
With the score at 8-7 to Jersey, the match was in the balance. But captain Archie Le Maistre scored his fourth try of the match to give Jersey some breathing space.
Guernsey were looking strong and hit back through Adam Giles to make it 9-8 with only minutes remaining.
The Sarnians pressed for the equaliser to take the match into an extra-time drop-off like last year, but Jersey held out to win the match 9-8.
A delighted Jersey chair and U18 coach Tim Macready praised all the Jersey U18 players for a great performance and highlighted the leadership of Archie Le Maistre and Seren Coombs, who both had been selected for the Jersey Mixed Open squad going to the World Cup.
Bruce Halliwell, treasurer of Jersey Touch, thanked Jersey Rugby Club for hosting the event and Rubis for their sponsorship of the inter-insulars.
