Whilst JRFC have a weekend off, Harvey Biljon, the squad and
supporters will doubtless cast a keen eye on proceedings at
Billesley Common, where Moseley entertain
Cornish Pirates in their
rearranged fixture from Round 15 two weeks ago, when the home pitch
was waterlogged.
Moseley currently sit one place above Jersey on 24 points
(Jersey have 17), whereas Pirates are the next opponents for the
Reds, next Sunday away at The Mennaye field.
For Pirates this will be a welcome return to League duty, having
missed out on games for three consecutive weeks because of the
adverse weather conditions. Moseley will also be welcoming this
match as they try to erase the memory of a heavy defeat at
Headingley last week, when they could not live with a rampant Leeds
Carnegie side, who put on a tremendous and irresistible show of
offensive running rugby.
When Moseley visited The Mennaye Field in Penzance back in the
autumn, they dominated possession and territory and yet bizarrely
managed to come away without any reward. On this occasion Pirates
seemed to be able to score each time they visited the red and
black's twenty-two, whilst Moseley struggled to replicate this at
the other end. Following that game, though, the Birmingham side had
an upturn in form and results and supporters will be hoping that
this will be displayed on Friday night.
The other rescheduled game this weekend sees Bristol host
Plymouth
Albion on Sunday (k-o 3pm) in a game originally due
to have been played on the final weekend of January. Play-off
hopefuls Bristol will be favourites to win on home soil, but didn't
have everything their own way on their trip to Brickfields in
November. Andy Robinson's men eventually won 31-38, with Albion
having to make do with two bonus points.
The Ealing
Trailfinders v Bedford game was
postponed last Friday and rescheduled for this Saturday, February
22nd, but has again been postponed due to a badly waterlogged pitch
at Ealing's Vallis Way ground. The revised date is yet to be
confirmed, but is likely to be the third weekend of March.
Local rugby in Jersey
this weekend
Just one game of note, but it's a significant one - the annual
Inter-Insular clash between Jersey and Guernsey, featuring
players from the junior sides in Jersey against their Sarnian
counterparts. Kick-off at St Peter (pitch 2 or 5) is at 12noon on
Saturday. The Banks
Ladies v Havant match on Sunday has
been cancelled after the Hampshire side forfeited the game.
RBS 6
Nations
Saturday's games will be shown on the big screen in the JRFC
clubhouse. At 1.30pm Italy, in the
unaccustomed role of favourites, play Scotland in Rome, while at
4pm England
take on Ireland at Twickenham.
Bath fly-half George Ford is set to make his England debut having
been named on the bench by Stuart Lancaster. 20-year-old Ford
played at St Peter last season for his former club Leicester. Ford
could face another player who faced Jersey last season - Ireland's
replacement prop Jack McGrath captained Leinster 'A' against the
Islanders in Dublin in the B&I Cup in December 2012.
The other 6N game this weekend is Wales against
France on
Friday; kick-off in Cardiff is at 8pm.
