14/04/2015

Jersey RFC's squad building for the 2015/16 season has continued
with the announcement that four new players will be arriving on the
Island this summer.

The four new faces are the first confirmed additions to the
Islanders' squad as Head Coach Harvey Biljon seeks to finalise his
personnel for next season.
Scrum-half Jack Moates and centre Oli Evans move from Aviva
Premiership side Wasps, while back-row player Charlie Butterworth
and winger Ross Adair will be leaving Ulster Rugby; all four have
signed one-year contracts with Jersey.

• Moates, 22, was born in Oxford and his first professional club
  was London Irish, during which time he spent a spell on loan with
  London Welsh. He joined Wasps in summer 2013 and has represented
  the club in both the European Challenge Cup and LV Cup.
• Evans, 25, who was born in London, was a promising tennis
  player until his career was cut short due to a wrist injury and he
  began to focus on rugby. He played for Bath University and joined
  the Wasps Academy in summer 2014, playing in the Aviva 'A' League
  and as a dual-registered player with Blackheath, including the
  pre-season match in Jersey last August.
• Butterworth, 24, hails from Wicklow in the Republic of Ireland
  and played for Lansdowne RFC in Dublin before making the move to
  Northern Ireland to join Ulster in summer 2014. He made six
  appearances for the Ulster Ravens in this season's British &
  Irish Cup.
• Adair, 20, was born and raised in Holywood in County Down,
  Northern Ireland and has played age group rugby for Ulster u18 and
  u20, as well as for Ireland u20. He played for the Ulster Ravens in
  the B&I Cup and made a try-scoring debut in the Pro 12 last
  month after coming on as a replacement against the Dragons.

"I'm excited to have secured the services of a clutch of young
players who have all had experience with clubs at the top tier of
domestic rugby in England and Ireland," said Biljon. "It's always
tough to break through at this level and many young players have
few opportunities.

"The intention is that these recruits will have every
opportunity to earn regular game time after they come to Jersey,
which is what they need at this stage of their careers. At the same
time they will strengthen our squad as we look to cement Jersey's
position as an established Championship club."

Biljon said further announcements will be made in the coming
weeks, including other new signings and confirmation of which
members of the existing Jersey squad will be returning next season,
on top of the 16 players from the 2014/15 squad already
announced.

Jersey have two matches left in the current Greene King IPA
Championship campaign, with an away trip to Bristol this Friday,
followed by the home match against Moseley on Saturday April 25th;
the season concludes with the Siam Cup against Guernsey at St Peter
on Saturday May 2nd.

Two members of the Jersey squad are in line to receive a major
representative honour during the closing stages of the season. Club
captain Alex Rae and Argentine international Martin Garcia-Veiga
have been included in the Barbarians' squad for next Tuesday's
match in Edinburgh against Heriot's FP to mark the host club's
125th anniversary.