Club chairman Chris Scott explained that the Ist XV have not entered the competition recently because of the cost, but because it is graded, Jersey could, potentially, go all the way.
‘The RFU grade clubs according to their divisions, so the competition we would play in is between 5 and 7.
We’re graded 6 and, in all, 256 clubs are eligible to take part,’ he said.
‘We were invited to compete earlier this year but, as usual, because of the cost, we had to decline.
Then, two weeks ago, I was talking to an individual who asked me: ‘if you could take part in one competition, what would it be?”” ‘I told him, and explained that if we entered the Hampshire Cup, realistically we would struggle against the likes of Havant or Basingstoke.
‘However, the Powergen Intermediate Cup, which works on a knock-out basis, is a more realistic proposition.
When I told him this, he asked me how much it would cost in all.
I told him that there are seven rounds, and advised him that if we won every one of them, it could be anything up to £30,000.
‘What he then said, which had come out of the blue from a general discussion, floored me.
“”All right, I’ll pay.
But you’d better win it.”” I was so taken back I had to ask him to say it again.
‘The cost includes air travel, coaches, if we need them, and accommodation.
It was a done deal straight away, so long as it met with coach Dai Burton’s approval.
He was delighted.
We both agreed it will be marvellous for the Rugby Club, to play away from the league.’ Almost immediately afterwards Scott contacted Mike Ward, the RFU’s Southern Fixtures Secretary, to ask him if the RFU would agree to allow the club to host games, if they paid for the other team to come over.
For, according to the rules of the competition, all games have to be played on the mainland.
The RFU agreed; with Ward adding that, in the earlier rounds, he believed many of the clubs would be happy to play here.
Initially the games are played on a regional basis.
From the fourth round onwards they are then played at national level.
‘So we could find ourselves playing teams as far away to the south as Penzance, or to Carlisle in the north,’ said Scott.
He added that when the club played in the competition before, they beat Hastings in the first round before losing in the second.
‘But we didn’t have as strong a team then as we have now,’ he added.
All of the games are drawn to be played on Saturdays which aren’t league days.
The draw for the first game, to be played on 17 September, will be made in July.
If Jersey did go all the way, the final would be in front of a full house at Twickenham on 8 April, before the Powergen Cup final and the Premier League Cup final.
An obviously delighted Scott added that the rugby club had even more good news.
‘Through a contact, we’ve arranged for Bedford Rugby Club, at their own expense, to train for three days in Jersey for the weekend of 6 to 8 August.
They are several divisions above us, but included in their training will be a mixed match.
I believe their owner is paying for them to come over.
‘Then we have a build up to our league games when another anonymous sponsor is paying for Maidstone, who are in our division and Winchester, who are a division below, to come over for training games on 20 and 27 August respectively, before our first league game, which is against Old MidWhitgiftian RFC on 3 September.’ The game was due to be an away fixture, but the UK side, to the club’s obvious delight, asked to play the game over in Jersey.
After that the team do play away, this time to Gosport and Fareham; then they play a league game against Maidstone away before that first dip into the water of the Powergen Intermediate Cup.
‘I am absolutely delighted – we could play some great teams,’ said Scott.
