AS we welcome in a New Year, Myles Landick and his Jersey RFC Men’s side have an earlier opportunity than most to get back into action, as they travel to the UK on Saturday for a tough away day against Bracknell.
Captain Evan Whitson and his teammates will be hoping to take their festive celebrations into their first contest of 2025, a match they desperately need to win if they are to maintain their challenge of runaway league leaders, London Welsh.
Jersey RFC face a challenging fixture block to start the new year, with three out of five matches being played away from home before their mouth-watering return fixture against London Welsh on 15 February.
“This is going to be a challenging period for us over the next five or so games,” said RFC head coach, Myles Landick.
“Starting this weekend against Bracknell, this will be no easy task, they’re a strong side and we know all too well the threat they pose.”
Form does generally speak truth, and Bracknell have not won in the league since mid-November and have just one win in their last four matches.
Landick’s men have already secured a win over this weekend’s opponents, however it was a closer contest than possibly first anticipated, with a late Dan Barnes score enough to earn the men in red a 21-15 home win back in September.
Since Jersey’s close defeat to London Welsh in early November, they have reeled off four consecutive and comprehensive victories, including a convincing 42-15 away win over Brighton just before Christmas.
“We were defensively excellent against Brighton,” Landick continued.
“We want to keep building on our defensive prowess, which has been on the whole very good this season.
“We know there is always pressure to score points against these teams, but we know where we are strong and we always ensure we focus on ourselves, that’s the best way for us to play at our best and get the job done.”
These sentiments were echoed by captain Evan Whitson, who added: “Bracknell are a good team, they ran us close at home and we know they will take confidence from that.
“But we have a really strong squad we’re taking over on Saturday. We played an excellent game last time out against Brighton to secure a big win and we’re all buzzing to get back on the park and continue that hard work.”
The Caesareans’ ranks have been massively bolstered in recent weeks by the returning fly-half Aaron Penberthy, who Whitson believes is a crucial player for their success as a team.
“Having Aaron back around is massive for us, he moves us all over the park with his kicking and allows us to work angles and gain territory, alongside his goal kicking.
“We also have George [Willmott] back for this trip as well. He will be huge for us too and is always ready to step up with an important score.
“We are a team in good form and we know we need to maintain that if we have any chance of catching Welsh.
“If we can get to that game on 15 February in good form, then we know we can push them all the way and throw this league wide open.
“We have to remain disciplined, focused and keep concentrating on ourselves. If we are successful in those things, we know good performances and result will continue to come.”
A win on Saturday for Jersey would be a good way to continue their hard work from last year, as their next run of fixtures includes challenging clashes against CS Stags 1863, Horsham, Old Alleynians and Wimbledon, before the titanic game of the season against Welsh.
“Competing on the road is never easy. If any team in this league is going to play well, they seem to do it against us,” Landick joked.
“But we need to take confidence from our performances in recent games, focus on ourselves and give it our all to make sure we can get the job done
“There’s no reason we can’t go away on Saturday and get a win and continue our excellent form on the road.
“We’ll be ready and raring for them.”
Kick off from Lily Hill Park, Bracknell, is scheduled for 2pm on Saturday.
Jersey RFC squad to face Bracknell: [1-8] Jake Bates, Jack Macfarlane, Tom Wilson, Max Ayling, Bryn Edwards, Tom Tilstone, Evan Whitson (c), George Willmott [9-15] Max Harrington, Aaron Penberthy, Lance Armstrong, Dan Barnes, Dylan Stocks, Bevan Biggs, Scott Van Breda
Replacements: George Thomas, Nathan Thomas, Tom Bulfin
