The Island club concluded six-months of pre-season training with a hastily-arranged trip to the West Midlands, having only received Government of Jersey approval to play in the upcoming Championship campaign on Thursday afternoon.
Saturday’s friendly at Butts Park ended 34-33 in the hosts’ favour, with Jersey’s second-tier rivals outscoring them by six tries to five after the Reds had led 14-0 and 21-10.
Debutants Ryan Hutler, Tim Grey and Bader Pretorius all crossed the whitewash for the visitors in bitterly cold conditions – sandwiched between touchdowns by Brendan Owen and Josh Bainbridge.
Brendan Cope kicked three from three before being replaced at half-time – one of 11 changes made by director of rugby Harvey Biljon at the break.
Former Aussie Rules professional Kurt Heatherley had a debut to forget – it lasted all of two minutes before he was struck down with what looked to be a severe shoulder injury and was taken to hospital in Coventry.
Report and reaction in Monday’s JEP.
