Jersey Reds have confirmed the details for the Club's forthcoming quarter-final match in the British & Irish Cup.
The Reds will take on Cornish Pirates under lights at St Peter on Friday March 10th at 7.45pm.
Jersey qualified for the knock-out stages of the tournament for the second consecutive season after a 26-21 home win over Ulster 'A' which ensured they topped pool one.
Jersey Reds Chairman Mark Morgan said that the Club was anticipating a big occasion for the first knock-out tie to be hosted by the Reds on home turf. He said that the scheduling avoided a clash with the RBS 6 Nations clash between England and Scotland the following day.
"Friday night fixtures have been popular this season and we know that in the past we have seen a dip in attendance when our matches clash with England internationals, particularly for games at Twickenham. The Friday Night Lights game on March 10th should be a cracking way to kick off the weekend, and we'll be showing the Wales v Ireland game as live on our big screens after the final whistle, so no-one need miss any of the 6 Nations action."
To encourage a bumper attendance to help cheer the Reds into the semi-finals of the B&I, prices for the Pirates match have been reduced to £12 for non-members and £10 for members. The student rate will be £5, and season ticket holders will enjoy free admission.
The Pirates and the Reds have fought out some thrilling battles over the past five seasons, and both will have ambitions to advance further in the B&I, a competition that the Pirates won in 2010 when current Reds' Head Coach Harvey Biljon was among the Cornish side's coaching team.
Following the news that London Welsh would not be granted a licence by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) to complete the 2016/17 season, and had consequently been removed from the Greene King IPA Championship, Jersey Reds are hoping to fill the gap left in the fixture list on Saturday February 4th, when the Exiles were due to play at St Peter.
"Missing a game for our supporters and missing a game from a revenue perspective would be tough," said Mark Morgan. "We are looking to see if we can find a replacement fixture for the day. We need to keep the players running and playing, and we need to give our fans something to watch. We’re speaking to various teams and hoping we will source opponents - it's too soon to have any definite news but we are working hard on this."
The Reds have confirmed one other fixture detail, with kick-off for the home match against London Irish on Saturday March 25th moving back from 2pm to 3pm.
