JERSEY RFC make their eagerly anticipated return to CoinShares Park tomorrow, welcoming Brighton to St Peter, following two successful victories on the road.
It has proved a fruitful start to life in Regional 1 South Central, taking maximum points from fixtures at Tunbridge Wells and Hammersmith & Fulham, with the men in red locked at the summit with London Welsh.
Despite the absence of club captain Evan Whitson and the influential Scott Van Breda, who broke his finger in the opening game win, Myles Landick’s men have shown promising early signs that they are well equipped to handle the pressures of level five rugby.
Even after two straight bonus-point victories to start the season, Landick was keen to highlight that work was still to be done and cited both “structure” and “patience” as being key points of emphasis heading into tomorrow’s home opener.
“We obviously head into tomorrow with a lot of confidence,” said the head coach.
“Two bonus-points wins away from home in a new league is a great start and we know that.
“But we got away from our structure at times in both of those games.
“At times, we just needed more patience in the build-up, without forcing at extra pass here or there and then more scoring opportunities would open up.
“We have definitely become more defensively focused this season.
“Our attack is very strong and we always know that we’ll have the firepower there to add points on the board.
“But, with a step up in league, comes a step up in opposition and we need to make sure we are defensively on it, otherwise mistakes will be punished.
“Looking back at our first couple of games, I think we perhaps put ourselves under pressure, more than our opponents.
“If we can tidy up some of the self-inflicted errors and avoidable penalties, that will stand us in good stead.”
Jersey welcomed around 500 fans to CoinShares Park for a pre-season friendly and, with 170 additional members from last season, Landick is hopeful that the local support will create a “special atmosphere” for home matches.
“The lads love playing at home,” he added.
“They have a lot of pride in putting on a show for our fans and, with the membership up in numbers, we hope that there will be a special atmosphere around the club this season.”
Brighton are still winless from their two played, agonisingly slipping at home to Hammersmith & Fulham 14-15, before again falling to travelling Bracknell 19-27.
The men from East Sussex will hope that an away trip might change their fortunes.
Personnel wise for Jersey, Jake Bates replaces Joe Ridgway up front and Eryk Swiech makes his first start of the season on the wing, in place of Tom Bulfin.
Forward Cam Keys has impressed early in the season and again makes the starting 15, while Jack Macfarlane starts, having appeared from off the bench against Hammersmith & Fulham.
Action from St Peter is set to start at 3pm.
Jersey RFC to face Brighton [1-15] Jake Bates, Gene Syminton, Tom Wilson, Cam Keys, Euan Spencer, Jack Macfarlane, Bryn Edwards, George Willmott, Liam Rhodes, Dan Barnes, Eryk Swiech, Dylan Stocks, Nathan Rogers, Bevan Biggs, Mark Boarer. Replacements: George Thomas, Tom Tilstone, Max Harrington
