The South African full-back, a player head coach Harvey Biljon describes as ‘a point of difference’, appeared to twist his knee while preparing for Jersey’s home match against Cornish Pirates and scans this week suggest he may not feature until the New Year.
‘It’s a pretty serious injury,’ explained Biljon. ‘So unfortunately he’ll probably miss out for the next three to four months but he’s being well supported by Roy [Godfrey] and Jared [Saunders, vice-captains] … let’s hope he returns as quickly as possible.
‘He was a point-of-difference player for us and he was also leading the team really well. We just need to keep on working – we’re getting by but we’re under pressure with injuries. Out of the 34 players we have, we have ten out with injury … it makes selection difficult but the boys need to stay on top of all the hard work.’
Hoping continuity will be the key to success, Jersey have made just three changes to the 22-man squad that beat Cornish Pirates at St Peter last Friday for Saturday’s match at Richmond, with James Voss and Seb Nagle-Taylor returning, and Josh Hodson in line for his competitive debut on the wing.
Jersey Reds (1-15): Jake Woolmore, Jared Saunders (capt), Jake Armstrong, James Voss, Jerry Sexton, Matt Rogerson, Conor Joyce, Rory Pitman, Kieran Hardy, Brendan Cope, Tom Pincus, Apakuki Ma’afu, Mark Best, Josh Hodson, Jason Worrall.
Replacements: Roy Godfrey, Nick Selway, Leeroy Atalifo, Rory Bartle, Seb Nagle-Taylor, Joel Dudley, Oli Bryant.
