On the day when legendary jump jockey AP McCoy will ride for the
final time, Jersey will be looking for a surge towards the
finishing post of the 2014/15 league season.
The final hurdle of the Islanders' third campaign in the Greene
King IPA Championship is against Moseley this Saturday. A win at St
Peter should propel the Islanders up to seventh place in the table
- as long as Yorkshire Carnegie beat Cornish Pirates at Headingley.
This would be in significant contrast to the last two seasons, when
drama in the closing weekends of the season prefaced narrow escapes
from the relegation trapdoor and successive 11th-placed
finishes.
Moseley, seventh in the Championship table in 2013/14, will
finish 11th this time around, having banished relegation fears
ahead of their decisive match against Plymouth Albion last weekend
with an equally decisive result - victory by 29-0.
A win over the men from Birmingham in the season finale won't be
easy - Moseley are a side Jersey have yet to beat in five previous
encounters. The last time the sides met on the Island the hosts
suffered a
hefty 8-39 defeat, and although they performed better at
Billesley Common on the opening weekend of this season, Jersey let
slip a half-time lead and the game ended 22-all.
Harvey Biljon's squad are also suffering with a serious
end-of-season injury list. A creditable display at Bristol last
week (the
Islanders eventually went down 40-29) came at a cost, with
injuries for prop Danny Herriott, hooker Joe Buckle (who had been
playing in his old position of flanker) and lock Pierce
Phillips.
In selecting his personnel for this Saturday's game, Biljon is
able to recall Nick Haining and Ryan Hodson to the back row
alongside skipper Alex Rae, while Dave Markham starts at lock.
The back-line sees just a single change from the Bristol trip,
with scrum-half Sami Fisilau returning in place of Ryan Glynn.
The effects of the injury toll is apparent on Jersey's bench,
which will feature an unusual 3:4 split of forwards and backs. The
forwards comprise props Nacho Lancuba and Nick Selway - with Selway
also covering hooker - and back row 'PK' Kaho. Also selected are
Glynn, David Bishop, Tobias Hoskins and Jack Burroughs, the latter
poised for a return to 1st XV action after a lengthy spell of
injury.
As well as improving their final placing in the Championship
table, Jersey will hope for a bumper crowd to take the club beyond
their average attendance for last season of 2,109 - the average
thus far in this campaign is 2,102.
After the encounter with Moseley, Jersey have just one more
match to round out 2014/15, the annual encounter against Channel
Island rivals Guernsey. The Ipes Siam
Cup takes place at St Peter on Saturday May 2nd.
Jersey squad v Moseley 'H' - Greene King IPA
Championship, Saturday April 17th, St Peter, k-o 3pm
Backs (15-9)
Aaron Penberthy
Ed Dawson
Drew Locke
Lewis Robling
Fautua Otto
Jonny Bentley
Sami Fisilau
Forwards (1-8)
Sam Lockwood
Martin Garcia-Veiga
Harry Williams
Nick Campbell
Dave Markham
Alex Rae (capt)
Ryan Hodson
Nick Haining
Replacements
Ignacio Lancuba
Nick Selway
Paula Kaho
Ryan Glynn
David Bishop
Tobias Hoskins
Jack Burroughs
And Finally
Check out the preview for the final round of the regular season
in GKIPAC - HERE
Lots of other important issues across the league this w/e; see
programme article tomorrow for more detail.
Don't forget to vote for Supporters' Player of the Year -
details HERE and check out
our tribute to Bunny Le Saux - HERE
Enjoy your weekend's rugby!
Tom Innes
