Jersey RFC have announced the end-of-season departure of a number of players from the club's 1st XV squad.
Prior to the final Greene King IPA Championship match of 2015/16 at St Peter this Saturday, it's been confirmed that 15 members of the existing squad will be leaving once the current campaign concludes.
Head Coach Harvey Biljon admitted that the number of departures was higher than he had hoped for at the start of the season, but said there was a combination of reasons behind this.
"I've told some players that they aren't in my plans going forward, but there are also those who have agreed moves to other clubs, and some who have decided to leave due to family reasons, personal circumstances or in order to pursue new opportunities," he said. "It's a difficult time of year, but we wanted to confirm the situation so everyone knows how things stand ahead of our last home game and the following week's awards night."
Those who won't be part of the Jersey squad in 2016/17 are as follows:
* Russell Anderson
* Jack Burroughs
* Mark Cooke
* Ed Dawson
* Ollie Evans
* Ben Featherstone
* Martin Garcia-Veiga
* Danny Herriott
* Sam Lockwood
* Dave Markham
* Mark McCrea
* Jack Moates
* Rhys Owen
* Nacho Lancuba
* Tommy Spinks
It is also anticipated that on-loan Wasps wing Tom Howe will return to his parent club, joining team-mate Will Rowlands, who was part of the Jersey squad from October until he was recalled by the Aviva Premiership club during the RBS 6 Nations.
Biljon added: "All those who are leaving have played their part in a good season for the club, helping us to our best Championship finish and enabling Jersey to be an established presence at this level.
"It's not just about the 15 players who start games, or the seven on the bench; our results stem from the attitude of the whole squad in their professionalism and preparation, and I'd like to thank all of those leaving and wish them all the best for the future.
"As a squad we are determined to have a strong finish to the season and will be looking to get a win in front of our home supporters this weekend."
Jersey's final league match this Saturday sees Yorkshire Carnegie visit the Island. Carnegie have won both matches between the sides so far this season, a 39-22 league victory on the first weekend of September and a 33-32 B&I Cup win last month. The match at St Peter kicks off at 3pm.
