Jersey have added another player to the 1st XV squad for the
2015/16 campaign, signing back row man Tommy Spinks from Guinness
Pro 12 finalists Glasgow Warriors.
Spinks was born in Edinburgh and captained the Scottish Under 20
side in last year's Junior World Cup. He spent two seasons with
London Scottish before returning north of the border last summer to
join the Scottish Rugby Academy, and made his Pro 12 debut for
Warriors against Munster in February. The 21-year-old has also
played LV Cup rugby during a loan spell with Ospreys and won the
Melrose Sevens with Glasgow Warriors.
"Tommy is a player who was on the radar during his time as a
Championship player and it's great to have secured the deal that
will make him part of our squad," said Jersey Head Coach Harvey
Biljon. "There'll be a number of changes to our back row options in
the new season and Tommy will be a key part of that unit."
Among Spinks' new team-mates will be Wasps' winger Tom Howe, who
was announced last month as coming to the Island on a season-long
loan deal with the Aviva Premiership club. The 19-year-old has just
been added to the England Under 20 squad for the forthcoming Junior
World Cup in Italy, which commences next week, with England
defending the trophy they won in 2014.
"This is a great opportunity for Tom to play on the biggest
stage for international junior rugby," added Biljon. "We'll have to
bide our time before he's able to come to Jersey, but we'll look
forward to adding him to our squad during the latter stages of
pre-season, when our supporters here will be able to see him in
action."
Members of the Jersey squad will commence their training
programme in June ahead of pre-season matches in August against
Welsh Pro 12 region Scarlets on August 15th and English National 1
club Blackheath on August 22nd.
Jersey Squad 2015/16 (new signings marked
*)
Forwards: Joe Buckle, Charlie Butterworth*, Nick
Campbell, Ben Featherstone*, James Freeman*, Martin Garcia-Veiga,
Cosma Garfagnoli*, Gary Graham, Nick Haining, Danny Herriott, Sam
Lockwood, Dave Markham, Sean McCarthy*, Pierce Phillips, Alex Rae,
Ignacio Saenz-Lancuba, Nick Selway, Tommy Spinks*.
Backs: Ross Adair*, Jack Burroughs, Mark Cooke*,
Brendan Cope*, Ed Dawson, Joel Dudley, Oli Evans*, Sami Fisilau,
Tom Howe*, Richard Lane*, Jack Moates*, Mark McCrea, Fautua Otto,
Aaron Penberthy, Lewis Robling.
