JERSEY RFC produced an almost once in a generation performance on Saturday as Myles Landick’s men scored 13 tries in a statement victory away from home.
Like a boxer waking up from a knock-out blow, Camberley’s players and supporters were left wondering what had happened after the title-chasing Jersey side put on a spectacle that they’ve been threatening to do all season.
While player-coach Scott van Breda scored a standout 35 points and stalwarts Jack Macfarlane and Dan Barnes both got two tries apiece, the real success story was the impressive debuts of two of the club’s colts.
Scrum-half Jonty O’Sullivan was the club’s man of the match and replacement Alex Neasham scored a second-half try as the two 17-year-olds epitomised the hard work going on behind the scenes to ensure a pathway for local lads to play a high level of rugby.
Camberley 19
Tries: Cavidi 13′, Clarke 15′, Davies 77′
Cons: Parker 16′, 78′
Jersey RFC 85
Tries: Van Breda 9′, 30′, 55′, Evans 20′, Ayling 26′, Spencer 37′, Barnes 40′, 80′, Macfarlane 52′, 65′, Biggs 58′, Neasham 62′, Tilstone 70′
Cons: Van Breda 21′, 27′, 38′, 40+1′, 56′, 59′, 63′, 66′, 71′, 80+1′
Referee: William Foster (RFU)
Attendance: 185
HT Score: 12-38
JEP Players of the Match: Finley Parker (Camberley) / Jonty O’Sullivan (Jersey RFC)
A clearly delighted Landick, RFC’s director of rugby, said: “You should have seen the smiles on their faces during the game. That paints a thousand words.
“Firstly, when Alex Neasham crossed the try-line and then just after the game when we were all together in a team talk and you could see both Alex and Jonty really thriving in that environment.
“The club is in a positive place. Last month we did 72 school sessions, coached around 300 kids, we’ve got a walking rugby initiative, a second team with a growing fixture list, our women’s team is going well.
“There’s so much positivity around the place and not just with our first XV, and after we had to effectively start the club again from scratch, so long may it continue.”
After the morning rain had made way for Camberley’s Watchetts Recreation Ground to be basking under the afternoon’s golden autumnal sun, conditions were nearly perfect as fly-half Scott van Breda kicked off towards the clubhouse end.
The opening minutes were played in the West Surrey’s side’s half as Jersey pinned back the black-and-ambers despite the Squirrels having the early possession.
After several line-outs and a scrum, the reds inched closer to the whitewash with openside flanker Lewis Wynne was ever present.
A second penalty against the hosts saw van Breda go for a quick tap-and-go with the match captain – who was leading the line in Evan Whitson’s absence – dashing over by the left post to get the first points on the scoreboard.
Camberley came back into the game immediately and hit a purple patch to score two tries in three minutes.
After forcing Jersey to concede a couple of penalties on the floor, the Surrey side had a left-sided line-out before scrum-half Rhys Davies’s grubber set up winger Daniel Cavidi to get the ball down in the left corner.
Two minutes later and it was the turn of the Squirrels forwards, who went route one from a lineout seven metres out on the left for their director of rugby, veteran hooker Michael Clarke, to muscle over.
Fullback Finley Parker converted to give the hosts a 12-5 lead after 16 minutes.
But that lead didn’t last long, as bodies crunched from some spirited tackling by both teams Jersey asserted territorial dominance, and after an impressive scrum on the right, a few quick passes led to fullback Lewis Evans running in from 30 metres down the left while van Breda’s conversion made it all square on the 21st minute.
Camberley’s discipline was their undoing. Try-scorer Cavidi was sin-binned for a high tackle on the 24th minute and three minutes later a couple of infringements led to a Jersey line-out in front of the clubhouse.
It was several phases before Max Ayling dived over in the far-left corner. Meanwhile, Parker was sin-binned for using foul language towards referee William Foster.
Playing against 13, it was all Jersey, who played out of their own 22-metre area with some solid phases and dashes of joie de vivre rugby before van Breda skirted a defender to dash down the right and wrap up the try bonus-point on the half-hour mark. However, his conversion thudded off the upright.
The Jersey juggernaut was in full swing, Lewis Wynne handed off three players and went close on the left but a long pass missed winger Bevan Biggs and instead found team manager turn linesman Guy Hinks on the right touchline.
No.8 Euan Spencer dotted down off the back of a scrum pushover and, despite playing against 15 men, the tries kept coming as the black-and-ambers were pinned back before a tight van Breda offload allowed inside-centre Dan Barnes to dash over between the sticks.
With the clock in the red another high tackle, this time by ex-Bracknell and Henley Hawks man Clarke, saw the hosts earn a third yellow card.
The Squirrels handled being a man down well, but eventually the pressure told and a training ground line-out move saw hooker Jack Macfarlane dive over from close range on the 52nd minute.
It then became a case of a Jersey try every two to three minutes as the gulf in class between the Regional 1 South Central leaders and ninth-placed Camberley showed.
Scott van Breda found gap in the home side’s line to run in from 30 metres by the left post to make it a personal hat-trick before a nice offload by Wynne allowed Biggs to sprint through 40 metres and dot down in the right corner.
As the clock ticked over the hour mark, Myles Landick brought on all three replacements and Alex Neasham scored with his first touch in senior men’s rugby. Coming on for Dylan Stocks at outside-centre, the teenager got on the end of some good phase play to dot down from close range inside the left post for the team’s tenth try.
Macfarlane muscled over after another well worked driving maul from a six-metre line-out on the 66th minute, then a steal at a Camberley line-out on the hosts five-metre line resulted in four phases cross-field before blindside flanker Tom Tilstone marched over on the left.
Camberley’s young side, with five teenagers and a shortage of players through injury leading to an overnight reshuffling from the squad announced on Thursday, showed but their effort never faltered.
The hosts played from the back with a long looping pass by fly-half Chris Laidler utilising the overlap, Parker ran 50 metres and skirted a van Breda sliding tackle before setting up half-back Davies to run in from 35 metres out.
But Jersey had the final say as another dominant scrum laid the platform before Barnes handed off two defenders to strut over by the left post, while also ensuring the team’s biggest win since a 12-try 78-12 hammering away against Eastleigh in March 2023 when Landick and co were marching towards winning the Hampshire 1 County league.
Jersey’s teenage debutant Jonty O’Sullivan was clearly delighted after being a part of Jersey’s 10th league win in a row, and told JEP: “Its good fun going out with the boys, being part of an away day win with them. The whole team is really supportive and playing with good players like Scott van Breda makes my job easy.
“It started as quite a tight and close game but we knew that once we start getting going we should have the win in our bag. The second-half in particular was really impressive and we kept a good tempo throughout the whole game.
“My parents and siblings are all happy for me so it’s all good, they’re probably even happier than me about my first start for the men’s first team.
“I’ve just thought I’m doing the same job as I would for the seconds or the colts, and no matter who I turn out for over the rest of the season I just want to enjoy my rugby.”
Camberley’s South African openside flanker Tom Jenvey gave an honest assessment post-game, and said: “Obviously we came into the game knowing Jersey were a class side. They showed that here last season. The first 20 minutes we thought we were in it, but our discipline and three yellow cards let us down.
“We’ve lost a lot of our senior players since last season, and that showed in the second-half when it felt like the floodgates opened. But it was still a pleasure to play Jersey, seeing their quality up close and we won’t stop trying our best.
“We said we just didn’t want to let ourselves down, we maybe did that in our discipline, but the sun will rise tomorrow and hopefully we can put on a better showing when we play in Jersey in March.”
Squads
Camberley RFC: [15-9] Finley Parker, Malakai Buadromo, Frank Buadromo, Callum Corey, Daniel Cavidi, Chris Laidler, Rhys Davies; [1-8] TJ Ajuchi, Michael Clarke, Sean McDonnell-Roberts, Harry Martyn, Ben Harrison, Oliver Davies, Tom Jenvey (C), Josh Lovell-Smith
Replacements: Harry Ludkin, Conrad Matthews, Harrison Szewczyk
Sin-bin: Daniel Cavidi 24, Finley Parker 27, Michael Clarke 40+1
Jersey RFC: [15-9] Lewis Evans, Lance Armstrong, Dylan Stocks, Dan Barnes, Bevan Biggs, Scott van Breda (C), Jonty O’Sullivan; [1-8] Huw Owen, Jack Macfarlane, Jack Higgins, Cam Keys, Max Ayling, Tom Tilstone, Lewis Wynne, Euan Spencer
Replacements: Morgan Brady, Tom Ellis, Alex Neasham
