05/07/2017

After reaching the final of the British & Irish Cup last season, Jersey Reds have learned the identity of their B&I pool opponents for 2017/18.

If they are to reach the knock-out stages of the B&I for the third consecutive season, the Reds will need to out-perform Welsh region the Dragons, plus Greene King IPA Championship rivals London Scottish and Yorkshire Carnegie, or take one of three quarter-final places available to pool runners-up.

The first Cup action of the new season will be played under the Friday Night Lights at St Peter on October 13th, with Yorkshire Carnegie the visitors. The Reds will then travel to south Wales the following weekend ahead of back-to-back fixtures against London Scottish in December. The pool stage concludes in January, when the Dragons visit the Island prior to the potentially decisive round six match in Yorkshire.

The Reds have faced all three opponents in the Cup previously as follows:

• In October 2012 Jersey's first win since reaching the Championship was a 27-33 success against Leeds Carnegie, as they were then named, at York RUFC. The northerners gained revenge in the return match at St Peter the following January, winning 12-27. Carnegie have played the majority of their home B&I Cup games away from their Leeds base in recent seasons at other grounds around Yorkshire and potentially this policy will continue in the coming season
• At Pandy Park, home of Crosskeys RFC, the Dragons won a thrilling encounter by 30-27 with a try from the final play of the match. The Reds won on their home soil by 24-12
• Last season there was another 'mini-series' against London Scottish in December; the Reds won 13-22 at the Richmond Athletic Ground and then again at St Peter by 23-19

The full fixture list for the Reds in pool 3 is as follows:

Fri Oct 13th - YORKSHIRE CARNEGIE (H) - 7.45pm
w/e Oct 20th-22nd - Dragons Select (a) - venue & KO tbc
Sat Dec 9th - LONDON SCOTTISH (H) - 3pm
Sat Dec 16th - London Scottish (a) - 2pm
Fri Jan 12th - DRAGONS SELECT (H) - 7.45pm
Sat Jan 20th - Yorkshire Carnegie (a) - 2pm - venue tbc

Last April the Reds travelled to Cork for the final of the 2016/17 B&I Cup, losing a thrilling match to hosts Munster 'A' by 29-28. This followed wins earlier in the knock-out stages against Cornish Pirates and London Irish.

All the Reds' fixtures for the forthcoming season, including hot-off-the-press confirmation of a pre-season trip to London to take on Premiership club Harlequins, can now be found via THIS LINK