HARVEY BILJON is still full of uncertainties about his squad selection despite Jersey Reds’ dominant rout of Richmond on Saturday.
Reds director of rugby Biljon feels he is no closer to having a clearer picture about who will be in the Championship champions first XV for the side’s first competitive fixture in two weeks time.
That’s despite a classy showing from Reds in their only pre-season outing, in which they amassed half a century of points away against old rivals Richmond, and ensured that off-field issues did not become on-field problems.
An unfortunate cocktail of transport issues to south-west London meant kick-off was pushed back from 2pm to 2.30pm, and some players had barely arrived and were still having their pre-match lunch when others took to the field.
Despite the melee, Jersey scored eight tries – six in a very impressive first half – to romp to victory at the Richmond Athletic Ground, where they will start their competitive season against London Scottish in the Premiership Cup in just under a fortnight’s time.
Australian winger Ben Woolett crossed the whitewash twice in the first-half, while fullback Scott van Breda opened the scoring with debutant wing Pete Sullivan, hooker James Hadfield and scrum-half Toby Venner also dotting down.
A wet second half became a fractured affair before new boy Robin Wedlake and replacement fullback Brendan Owen scored in the final eight minutes.
Biljon was very considered post-game, and said: ‘It was great that we got a hit out. It’s been tough to get pre-season fixtures, and particularly having this one on a bank-holiday weekend, with an England game going on nearby and everything else, I think the players stepped up, considering the disruption we had with travelling.
‘Its been a successful trip out but we’re not going to get carried away. There is loads to bring away from it and analyse, loads to build on and we’ve got a long way to go to be where we want to be this season, make no mistake.
‘But, on the whole, if you were to ask for that sort of hit out in a first pre-season game, I’m pretty happy with it. I’m not paying attention to the score, but to the way the players applied themselves and our level of conditioning, and how the new players are fitting in.
‘If you want me to discuss any chemistry in the squad, to be honest, there wasn’t a combo that got more than 30 minutes so it’s tough to give you that breakdown. But what we saw is good continuity and understanding in the group, but [in terms of] what the combinations will look like come the start of the season, we’re a little way off yet.’
The classy win came after nearly eight hours of transport uncertainty, while there was no real reason behind the chaos.
Of the disruption, Biljon said: ‘We had some players in taxis, some players on a coach and two flights out just to get to Richmond.
‘We had a flight out at 7am, and a second one at 8.45am, and we had a couple of delays, a coach break down, players arriving in different taxis, a whole load of things going on.
‘Thankfully the players stayed relaxed and composed, and they turned up and performed.’
The travel delays meant the team sheets which had been published mid-week had to be heavily changed to reflect who was available, but all the players got an outing and the Reds’ coaches tried to share the playing minutes out as evenly as possible.
Biljon added: ‘Don’t think the scoreline reflects the flow of the game, as we had challenges across the board. In the first half, we had great weather while in the second half, the heavens opened and it really rained hard.
‘I think we were challenged up front in our set piece, and their pack stepped up and gave us some headaches. It gave us an opportunity to test a couple of new things we’ve been trying, so, on the whole, I’m pretty happy with the way everything unfolded.
‘Like we all say, we’ve got to come out of these games with not too many injuries, and I think on that side, both teams are going ok and will be happy about it.’
Commenting on what he was most pleased about from Saturday’s fixture, Biljon said: ‘It was nice to see all the new signings get on the field and play together. That’s one thing that’s very important, so it was nice to see them fitting in and understanding the way Jersey Reds play.
‘And it was good to see the players take their opportunities. It’s not made selection any clearer because with having just one pre-season game, we went into it with the plan of giving everyone game time.
‘Therefore, we didn’t make replacements according to the flow of the game. We had pre-meditated changes, and that was to give players the opportunity to get game time, which is going to be huge going into the next few weeks.’
