Jersey RFC regret to announce that five points have been
deducted from the club's 2011/12 league tally following a breach of
RFU Competition Regulation 13.4.3 covering the number of foreign
players appearing in a match-day squad.
Paul Rodgers, Kingsley Lang and Ashley Elphinston all featured
in Jersey's 19-16 defeat at Cinderford on October 1st. With all
three players categorised as 'foreign' on the agreed registration
list, Jersey had one more than the permitted maximum.
Following an admission of guilt in this matter, Jersey have been
immediately and automatically subjected to the deduction, the
minimum sanction for this offence, by the Rugby Football Union's
National Clubs Association (NCA), the competition authority for SSE
National League One.
"We were aware of the regulation but it hasn't been an issue for
us this season with Ashley not featuring in our first five
matches," explained Chairman Bill Dempsey. "He came into the frame
on Friday a few hours before we travelled to the UK, following a
training injury to Jim Brownrigg the previous evening, and
subsequently played for us as a substitute against Cinderford.
"A number of those involved at the club could have realised the
potential implications of this issue, but with the squad changing
at late notice we failed to do this and now realise that we were
wrong.
"I've no intention of having an inquest into this matter, it is
a genuine mistake for which we are collectively responsible as a
club, and we now have to accept our punishment and move on - this
is something I know Ben Harvey and our squad will be looking to do
so at the first opportunity when they return to action on
Saturday."
As part of the ruling by the NCA, expected, the result of the
Cinderford game will stand, including the losing bonus point gained
by Jersey.
