HARVEY BILJON insists there is no additional pressure on Jersey Reds ahead of their crucial home clash against Ealing Trailfinders – although he says the Londoners may well be feeling the heat.
The Reds, second in the Championship, welcome the early-season promotion favourites with a two-point advantage to protect, having climbed above their fierce rivals last weekend courtesy of a bonus-point victory at Hartpury.
Ealing, who have very public ambitions to play Premiership rugby, suffered their third defeat of the season at the hands of Bedford Blues.
‘I honestly don’t feel the added pressure and I mean that sincerely,’ said Biljon, Reds’ director of rugby. ‘We’re confident with the way we’ve prepared and we’re confident with where the team is at. But do I know it will be tough? Do I respect them? Yes.
‘Ealing are coming here with added bite after losing last weekend and we know they’ll be looking to step up. They have to bounce back this weekend, they just have to. They’re the team that’s supposed to be going up.’
Ealing were relegated from the second tier on the final day of the 2013/14 season, with Jersey escaping at the death thanks to a bonus-point triumph at Bedford. Since then, though, the side from Vallis Way have enjoyed a significant change in fortunes.
‘The rivalry goes back before my time here but it was only when Guy Thompson [former Wasps, Leicester and Ealing forward] came back to Jersey this season and said how big it is … I probably didn’t recognise it until then. I see it more now.
‘These are the games you want to be a part of.’
