The Reds go into tomorrow’s match with London Scottish at Stade Santander International – kick-off is at 2pm – in fourth position in the Greene King IPA Championship table, aware that they have every chance of an even better ranking by the end of the weekend.
Second-placed Ealing are just a point ahead of the Reds, and must face unbeaten league leaders Newcastle Falcons at Vallis Way tomorrow. Cornish Pirates, third in the table on points difference, do not play until Sunday but should register a win on home turf against Hartpury University.
Harvey Biljon knows that the pressure is on his squad to contribute to the festive atmosphere, with supporters enjoying a pre-match turkey dinner in the clubhouse or – if they are wearing Christmas jumpers and arrive before 1pm – free pasties in the pavilion. But the Reds’ director of rugby said he expected players to thrive on the occasion.
‘The players are pretty excited and after the recent block of cup games this is the first opportunity they’ve had to get out there and really get everyone into the Christmas spirit and behind the team in a very important game,’ he said. ‘Getting the right result would put us in the right place for everything we set out to achieve by this point when we set out in September.’
Biljon said the home club were ready for the Scots to attempt to spoil the party, as was the case in February when they inflicted Jersey’s first home defeat in a league match for 12 months thanks to a 14-24 win that completed a league double for the season.
‘Scottish will be very well-organised and determined and they have had some good results this season, so we will need to put in a performance,’ he added.
A total of seven changes are made to the starting XV from the line-up which began last Saturday’s 38-7 cup defeat to the Falcons, with five of the changes coming in the pack.
‘There have been some difficult selection decisions, especially among the forwards,’ he said. ‘But we’ve gone with the line-up we think will provide the best balance for this game, and the players we’ve selected on the bench will have important roles to play as well.’
In front of an unchanged back five, Will Homer and Brendan Cope return as the starting half-backs.
The Exiles won three straight Championship Cup ties at the start of the season and pushed promotion favourites Newcastle Falcons all the way in their opening league match before losing 13-17.
Since mid-October the results have been less good, with a record of two wins and a draw in six Championship matches to date, and consecutive defeats in their most recent outings, the cup visits to Nottingham and Cornish Pirates.
Jersey Reds provisional squad (1-15): Harry Morley, TJ Harris, Alec Clarey, Charlie Beckett, Rory Bartle, Kyle Hatherell, Josh Bainbridge (capt), Janco Venter; Will Homer, Brendan Cope; Leroy Van Dam, Rodney Iona, James Newey, Alex Morgan; Auguy Slowik.
Replacements: Nic Dolly, Roy Godfrey, Leeroy Atalifo, Jake Upfield, Max Argyle; Luc Jones, Aaron Penberthy, George Spencer.
