After losing 26-22 to Guernsey at St Peter last year, Jersey comfortably won 38-13 at Foote’s Lane on Saturday.
The win was never in doubt once the Jersey pack had stamped their authority on the game in the opening ten minutes.
In front of an estimated 2,800 spectators, by full-time eight tries had been scored, four players had been sin-binned and two red-carded, with referee Tim Miller refusing to comment on a game which on three occasions had the sides trading punches.
Such are the passions of this particular annual inter-insular.
The game, however, was always going to be won by Jersey.
Despite talk of two South Africans being brought into the team at scrum-half and stand-off to bolster the Guernsey team, neither appeared, although their Welsh No 8, Matt Morgan, was a handful all afternoon and deserved his try late on.
However, by then the game, as a contest, was well and truly over.
From the start Jersey’s powerful pack play gave them virtually unlimited possession, and after stand-off Sam Cummins had kicked Jersey to within ten yards of the Guernsey line, Latu Maka’afi scooped up the ball and charged over from the ensuing line-out.
Cummins converted.
Despite a Carl Gardner penalty three minutes later to make the score 7-3, Jersey moved up a gear and from a catch and drive in the 18th minute captain Steve O’Brien moved from the wing into the pack to touch down for an unconverted try.
Five minutes later Jersey were 19-3 ahead and the game was as good as won.
Centre Ross Allan made a break and the ball was recycled to winger Jim Milner, who scored an easy try wide on the left, which Cummins converted.
Jersey already had one hand on the Siam Cup – the second-oldest rugby trophy in the world, behind the Calcutta Cup – before Nathan Kemp of Jersey and Paul Thomas of Guernsey were sin-binned for the first of the three off-the-ball incidents.
But even without their influential No 8, Jersey continued to dominate and their next try came when a scrum to Jersey in the 33rd minute five yards out saw O’Brien steal in as flanker before popping the ball up to full-back Gareth Jeffreys, who ran into space to score.
Cummins converted.
At half-time it was 26-3 and within 30 seconds of the restart Jersey went further ahead when the ball was caught and held by the forwards and passed through to Allan.
He unloaded to Jeffreys who broke the first line of defence before feeding O’Brien on the wing for another simple score.
Jersey coach Dai Burton then substituted John Allo and Ian Henderson for Brett Els and Matt Banahan and almost immediately Els stole ball from a Guernsey line-out which led to Maka’afi scoring his second try wide out on the right.
Cummins converted.
Five minutes later, with both sides committed to winning the ball, a second bout of fighting led to Jersey replacement Banahan and Guernsey replacement Dave McGall being sin-binned.
Now 38-3 in front, Jersey sat back a little, allowing Guernsey to boss the game for the next ten minutes.
First Guernsey’s player of the match, Matt Morgan, touched down following good work by his forwards before James Regnard, five minutes from time, found a huge hole to run through and after shrugging off a last-minute tackle by Jeffreys the No 6 scored to the right of the posts.
It was no more than Guernsey deserved for their heroic come-back, but with barely two minutes left both Banahan and Guernsey hooker Thomas were then given straight red cards for the third and last free-for-all when both players were cited for throwing punches.
Although the game was always going to be won by Jersey, the referee’s terse ‘no comment’ when asked about both teams’ performances contrasted with the mood of a happy Jersey captain, Steve O’Brien.
‘I couldn’t ask for a greater bunch of guys to play with,’ he said.
‘We probably should have scored 50.
As for the try I enjoyed the most, it was probably the first, when I went in and did the dog’s work with the forwards.
I said earlier this week we’d be taking the trophy back, and that’s what we’ve done.’ Guernsey captain Andy Bailey was philosophical in defeat.
‘We had our chance, but didn’t take them,’ he said.
‘This has been a testing year all round for us, but when you consider one of our players broke his neck earlier in the season, you realise it’s only a game of rugby.
Next year we’ll come back bigger and stronger.’ Guernsey coach John Colley, despite his team’s defeat, was pleased by the way they had scored the last two tries.
‘The boys have lots of guts and never give up,’ he said.
‘But full credit to Jersey, who deserved to win because week in, week out they play at a higher level than us in the league.’ Jersey coach Dai Burton said: ‘I said before the game that the side whose forwards were on top would win.
Our threes defended well, our pack was always in control, we knew how we wanted to play and in the end it was a job well done.’ The man of the match was Latu Maka’afi.
Jersey: Marcus Nobes, Josh Chamier, James Brimelow (Peter O’Connor), Ian Henderson (Matt Banahan), Roger Quirk, Jon Allo (Brett Els), Nathan Kemp, Latu Maka’afi (Danny McAlister), Dave Miles (Nayar), Sam Cummins (Darren Toudic), Jim Milner, Andy Whelan, Ross Allan, Steve O’Brien (captain), Gareth Jeffreys.
Guernsey: Steve Thomas (Dave McGall), Paul Thomas, Simon Sharrott (Andy Yabsley), Jon Flynn, Harold Morgan (Ben Mahy), James Regnard, Darren Jones, Matt Morgan, Carl Gardner, Jim Rowe, Paul Livesey, Ben Le Huray, Jim Elliott, Barry Goode, Andy Bailey (captain).
Yellow-carded: Kemp, Thomas, Banahan, McGall Red-carded: Banahan, Thomas.
The BBC Radio Jersey competition to predict the Siam Cup score and win a British Lions shirt was won with a score of 37-12.
And the winner? Former JEP sports editor Max Hewitt.
