The former England international, who joined Jersey’s coaching staff last month after retiring as a player, has returned to the Premiership club to provide front-row cover for the last four games of the 2019/20 season. The 34-year-old will fly back to Jersey at the end of the season to continue preparations for the 2020/21 Championship campaign.
Biljon said: ‘I got a call on Sunday from Steve Diamond [Sale’s director of rugby] to say he’s got a bit of a hooker drama with injuries and was wondering if it is was possible to get Rob on a short-term loan for three or four weeks.
‘We’re in phase two of pre-season with regards to the current restrictions and we can’t do certain aspects of training like set-pieces with the forwards. I spoke to the other coaches, Jim Maloney and Andy Robinson, and asked if we could manage without Rob because the part of pre-season we are in at the moment won’t have a huge effect on what he would be doing right now.
‘Obviously we will miss him because he is a key part of what we do but there was also an opportunity for Rob, who was retiring from his career, to end it in the way that he wanted. ‘
He added: ‘It’s really not a big deal. We’re helping Sale out. We’re hoping to build a relationship with them and if we can help them out I am sure as the season goes on and when Rob gets back, we might need help from them at some stage when we get up and running.’
