“WE can’t wait to get going again.”
That was the message from head coach Myles Landick and his team before Jersey RFC travel to Salisbury tomorrow.
Jersey are looking to bounce back after suffering their first-ever league defeat last week at home to Guildford. Salisbury are struggling near the foot of the table but one of their four wins this season came against Guildford. Landick said his team will not be taking their opponents lightly but has assured fans that last week’s loss was just a ‘blip.’
“It’s a tough away game but hopefully we can continue the previous good form,” said Landick. “No panic buttons have been hit. We’ve had a couple of really good weeks of training and a good session on Tuesday.
“No one ever expects to win every game and we know teams are going to come at us. We just weren’t at the races and we spoke at length about how teams are going to come out really hard for the game. We don’t want that happening too often, but we’ve taken our learning points away from it. The guys are hungry and excited to get on the field again.”
Jersey have been well-oiled machine throughout the last season-and-a-half, their efficiency steamrolling the opposition with the ball in a hand, but Landick admits that they were well short of their best in that respect during the first half of the Guildford match.
He continued: “We’ve got to make sure we’re on the ball from the start of the whistle. I think we made 16 skill errors, which was basic catch-pass. You then give them back possession and you’re under pressure again. Defending for long periods of time in games isn’t easy.”
“But there’s not too much to worry about in there. I think it’s a bit of a refocus for us. We’ve gone 36 games unbeaten, which is an incredible run. The focus has always been pushing for promotion this season.”
Landick confirmed that captain Evan Whitson is recovering well from the concussion he received last week, having been assessed by the doctors, but will miss the game due to the minimum 21-day concussion protocol. There is a new face on the wing in the shape of Bevan Biggs, who recently moved to the Island and London-based Chris Levesley at full-back, who returns to the game are long period of absence. Levesley came through the Jersey academy system and made his first team debut at 17 years old back in 2011 in the season when Jersey won promotion to the Championship. He also had spells at Ebbw Vale and Gloucestershire side Clifton.
Jersey squad: Joe Ridgway, Jack Macfarlane, Tom Wilson, Nathan Thomas, Tom Tilstone, Euan Spencer, Tim Corson, George Willmott, Max Harrington, Aaron Penberthy, Sam Harvey, Nathan Rogers, Dom Mayo, Bevan Biggs, Chris Levesley. Replacements: Harvey Evans, Jack Preston, Callum Cuthbert.
Regional 2 South Central
P W D L F A Diff TB LB Pts
Jersey RFC 16 15 0 1 737 337 400 16 1 77
Winchester 16 12 1 3 511 261 250 14 2 66
Tottonians 16 12 0 4 539 327 212 9 3 60
Wild Geese 16 9 0 7 486 432 54 10 4 50
Guildford 16 8 1 7 498 368 130 10 3 47
Witney 16 9 0 7 308 308 0 6 4 46
Farnham 16 6 0 10 511 405 106 11 7 42
Wimborne 16 6 1 9 358 512 -154 7 3 36
Newbury Blues 16 6 0 10 293 481 -188 4 1 29
Chichester 16 4 1 11 318 455 -137 5 3 26
Salisbury 16 4 0 12 247 604 -357 3 1 20
Reading 16 3 0 13 236 552 -316 2 3 17
