Jersey will seek to soothe their cup heartache with a league win when the Greene King IPA Championship resumes at St Peter on Good Friday afternoon.
The Reds were defeated 33-32 by Yorkshire Carnegie at Headingley last Sunday in the semi-final of the British & Irish Cup, missing out on the opportunity to host next month's final by the narrowest of margins. The visitors outscored the home side by six tries to five, but were only able to add a single conversion and late pressure didn't translate into the winning points.
After a truncated five-day turnaround, Jersey will be looking to bounce back and maintain their fifth position in the Championship table when they take on the Exiles at 3pm. A top-four place is not out of the question, although the Islanders trail both Bedford Blues (third) and Yorkshire Carnegie (fourth) by 12 points - a substantial margin with four games to go, albeit that Blues and Carnegie face each other on Sunday.
The opposition on Good Friday, London Scottish, will be looking to avenge a home defeat at Jersey's hands in November, when the Exiles registered just a solitary try in going down 5-20, with Ross Adair and Gary Graham scoring the visitors' tries.
It's the second time the Scots have travelled to play Jersey on the Easter weekend - in April 2014 they claimed a 17-25 victory, part of a run of five successive wins over Jersey prior to the Reds' win at the Athletic Ground earlier this season.
Head Coach Harvey Biljon brings three new players into Jersey's starting XV. Wing Tom Howe drops out of the back-line, his place taken by Ross Adair, while Aaron Penberthy is selected in Adair's previous position at full-back.
The other changes are in the front row: Nacho Lancuba steps up at loose-head prop and will make his 50th appearance for Jersey, with Sam Lockwood absent after sustaining a fractured arm at Headingley; on the right-hand side of the scrum, Danny Herriott starts at tight-head with Simon Kerrod on the bench.
Prop Sean McCarthy, hooker Martin Garcia-Veiga and scrum-half Jack Moates are all recalled to the squad and will take up places on the bench.
The match is one of three home games for Jersey in the final month of the season; after Easter there will be visits from Rotherham Titans on Saturday April 2nd and Yorkshire Carnegie on the final day of the season, Saturday April 23rd.
Jersey squad v London Scottish (H) - Greene King IPA Championship, Friday March 25th, St Peter, k-o 3pm
Backs (15-9)
Aaron Penberthy
Ross Adair
Oli Evans
Lewis Robling
Rich Lane
Brendan Cope
Joel Dudley
Forwards (1-8)
Nacho Lancuba
Joe Buckle
Danny Herriott
Nick Campbell
Pierce Phillips
Alex Rae (capt)
James Freeman
Nick Haining
Replacements
Sean McCarthy
Martin Garcia-Veiga
Simon Kerrod
Uili Kolo'ofa'i
Gary Graham
Jack Moates
Mark McCrea
