Going west with the Jersey Flyer and the man from
Buenos Aires
Jersey's young men will go west this weekend for another stern
Championship challenge.
To describe Bristol as ambitious would be like saying Brian
Moore is opinionated, that Eddie Butler fancies himself as the ace
pronouncer of French surnames, or that Jonathan 'Jiffy' Davies is
prone to shouting 'NUMBERS!' in a high-pitched voice during moments
of excitement. It was Sybil Fawlty's special subject - the bleedin'
obvious.
Jersey's West Country opponents have been 'below stairs' at
Championship level since relegation from the Premiership in 2009.
And after a few near misses they're now ready to head back up. It
is 11 months since Andy Robinson joined as Director of Rugby and
the squad has been strengthened with some high-calibre
additions.
The process has continued recently with such signings as Ross
Rennie and Stuart McInally from Edinburgh on loan - one capped 20
times by his country, the other on the cusp of national selection.
This pair arrived immediately, but there are also some landmark
additions for 2014/15, such as Welsh scrum-half Dwayne Peel and
Samoan prop Anthony Perenise, and rumours of more to come, with
former Wales captain Ryan Jones the highest profile name to have
been mentioned thus far.
Bristol's Premiership ambitions have some strong foundations - a
proud history, a large and passionate support base - the average
home crowd (5,300) dwarfs those of Championship rivals - and some
serious investment from majority shareholder Steve Lansdown.
This will be Jersey's second and final visit to the Memorial
Stadium - part of Lansdown's project will see Bristol leave their
home this summer and move in with Bristol City, the football club
also owned by Lansdown and whose entire debt of £35million he
recently wiped out.
Bristol actually slipped out of the play-off places last
weekend, thanks to the postponement of the home game against
Plymouth, but they remain very much in touch and will expect to be
several places higher when the regular season concludes in
April.
Did someone say 'postponement'? Well yes, last Sunday's game was
lost to the elements, and it has been very wet in the west of
England, but the hosts have said they are confident that this
Sunday's game (k-o 3pm) will proceed as scheduled.
News from the Jersey Camp
It's another tricky test for Jersey's new Head Coach Harvey Biljon
in his second Greene King IPA Championship fixture since arriving
on the Island.
Biljon makes four changes to his starting XV from the line-up
who faced Rotherham at St Peter last weekend.
In the pack, skipper Alex Rae switches from second to back row
following last week's injury to Fred Silcock, with Nick Campbell
coming in to the engine room alongside Dave Markham. Joe Buckle
(pictured above by Sue Trower winning lineout ball last
weekend) starts ahead of Latu Makaafi, who is one of five
replacement forwards named by the Islanders.
Scrum-half Nicky Griffiths and centre Mark McCrea return in
place of Jimmy Williams and David Bishop, who will both be on the
bench, alongside new signing Sam Lockwood (pictured below), the
loose-head prop who joined Jersey this week on a three-month loan
deal from Leeds Carnegie.
Backs (15-9)
Jack Burroughs
Grant Pointer
Drew Locke
Mark McCrea
Mark Foster
Niall O'Connor
Nicky Griffiths
Forwards (1-8)
Sean McCarthy
Elvis Taione
Dave Young
Nick Campbell
Dave Markham
Alex Rae (capt)
Joe Buckle
Tom Brown
Replacements
David Felton
Nick Selway
Sam Lockwood
Latu Makaafi
James Voss
Jimmy Williams
David Bishop
Man in the Middle
The referee for this weekend is Argentine official Francisco
Pastrana (pictured below), who also has a 6 Nations
appointment this weekend and last year was the first official from
outside SA/NZ/Oz to take charge of a Super Rugby fixture. You can
read more about him HERE
Any Previous?
At the Memorial Stadium on Remembrance Day 2012, three tries in
a 20-minute spell midway through the first half helped Bristol to a
17-6 interval lead. Mariano Sambucetti added his second of the game
in the second period, and Rhys Lawrence crossed twice, to complete
a six-try, 39-16 win.
Jersey's points came from two penalties by Mike Le Bourgeois, a
last minute try by Richard Barrington, and a conversion by Donovan
Sanders. But the Islanders also suffered two yellow cards, plus a
red for Ashley Maggs' tip-tackle against his former club. The full
report can be accessed HERE
In March Bristol travelled St Peter and completed the double
over the Islanders, who were left fuming after being denied a
winning score in the final move of the game.
With time up and the scoreboard reading 23-29, Jersey were
hammering at the visitors' line and replacement prop James Gethings
forced his way over. The Irishman's team-mates were convinced the
ball had been grounded, but referee Ross Campbell, after consulting
his Assistant, ruled 'held up' and blew for full time, to the
frustration of the majority in a season-high crowd of 3,074 at St
Peter.
Jersey lead 16-9 at the break, Nicky Griffiths having scored the
only try thus far, and the Islanders were 23-15 up on the hour
after Guy Thompson crossed, only for the visitors to pull ahead
through tries by Fautua Otto and Lee Jarvis, the latter completing
a 24-point haul. See the full report HERE.
In September 2013, the teams met again at St Peter, and Bristol
started with a bang. Tristan Roberts scored two tries and Ruki
Tipuna another before some members of the Old Farts' table in the
JRFC clubhouse had finished their last pre-match glass of Fleurie.
Home supporters feared the worst, but Jersey steadied the
ship.
After leading 3-19 at the break, Bristol claimed a BP try just two
minutes after the restart when Ryan Edwards scored, but that was
the last time the visitors troubled the scoreboard: Ed Dawson and
Nick Selway claimed second half tries for Jersey, and some
respectability was restored. See HERE for full report.
Bristol's 2013/14 campaign
Former Bath Rugby back-rower Ben Skirving was one of a number of
new faces to join in summer 2013, while Mark Sorenson (Northampton
Saints), Charlie Amesbury (Sale Sharks), James Hall (Newcastle
Falcons), Nicky Robinson (Wasps), Ben Mosses (Bath), Andy Short
(Worcester), Ollie Hayes (Worcester), Jack Wallace (Wasps), Errie
Claassens (Worcester), Adam DÕArcy (Ulster), Nick Koster (Bath) and
Rupert Freestone (unattached) were also added.
DoR Robinson has also welcomed Sean Holley to his coaching
staff, with the former Ospreys Head Coach taking on the role of
First Team Coach. Matt Ferguson (Forwards Coach) remains in
position for his second full season with the Club, while Matthew
Sherratt continues to oversee the attack.
After the 21-23 defeat at the hands of Cornish Pirates on the
opening day of the season, Bris hit back the following weekend to
secure a bonus point win against London Scottish at the Memorial
Stadium.
After winning In Jersey Bristol swept aside Bedford and
Nottingham, but then had to work hard before overcoming Plymouth at
Brickfields 31-38. This was followed by a loss against league
leaders London Welsh (22-7 at the Kassam) and a 36-26 home win over
Rotherham.
Then the Cornish Bogey struck again, with the Pirates winning at
the Mennaye by 21-15, and then bitter rivals (well certainly on the
message-boards) Leeds edged a close one at the Mem 22-28.
The festive fixtures saw Bristol win at Ealing and then take care
of Moseley three days after Christmas in a game watched by around
7,000 spectators. They were due to return to league action last
weekend but this was the Plymouth postponement.
The B&I Cup isn't Bristol's priority this year, but they
cantered through the easiest of this season's pools along with
Leeds. Each beat the other once and their second-string sides were
not tested against Gala or Aberavon, except briefly when a crater
appeared in the Welsh team's pitch and forced a postponement.
Bristol are home to Rotherham in the quarter-finals.
History of Bristol RFC
The club was formed in 1888, through the merger of two local sides
Redland Park and Westbury Park, and within 12 years had their first
England cap, J.W. Jarman. A contemporary of Jarman's was James
Peters, who played for Bristol (and Plymouth) prior to becoming the
first black man to play for England in 1906.
Bristol played the touring New Zealanders in 1905, and in 1921
the Memorial Ground was opened.
Two of Bristol's finest years came in 1965/66, when the 1st XV
won 39 games, and in 1971/72 when the club were unofficial
champions of England and also the Anglo-Welsh league. The former
England skipper John Pullin was a lynchpin of the Bristol side
during this period.
In 1983 Bris won the John Player Cup, beating Leicester 28-22
under the captaincy of England flanker Mike Rafter. The team
included Alan Morley, who scored 384 tries for Bristol in 519
appearances between 1968 and 1986.
When the league era began, Bristol competed at the top level for
15 of the first 16 seasons.
The 2002/03 season ended up as a bitter memory, when owner
Malcolm Pearce pulled out and the club ended up relegated. It took
two seasons to get back up but in 2006/07, under the guidance of
former England scrum-half Richard Hill, the club achieved their
highest-ever league ranking, third in the Premiership, followed by
a play-off loss to Leicester Tigers.
Once again there was a swing in fortunes before too long and in
2009 Bristol were relegated, with former England full-back Paul
Hull replacing Hill. There were hopes of getting straight back up,
but these were dashed at the final hurdle with play-off defeat by
Exeter. 2010/11 was a disappointment, with the club only just
escaping the ignominy of the relegation play-offs, but again there
was the opportunity to strengthen and rebuild, resulting in a far
stronger showing in 2011/12 until another play-off defeat, this
team by the Pirates.
Bristol are in their fifth season in the Championship since
relegation in 2009. Multi-millionaire Stephen Lansdown became the
majority shareholder in early 2012, although his investment in the
club goes back to 2008/09. Lansdown also owns Bristol City FC, in
which he is quoted as saying he has invested an "embarrassing"
amount he estimated at north of £50million. The two clubs are set
to co-habit at City's Ashton Gate ground from next season, which
will mean leaving the Memorial Ground seven years before its
centenary. Current owners Bristol Rovers FC are expected to carry
on at the Mem in the short-term, but the ground is eventually set
to be redeveloped into a supermarket.
In 2012/13 Bristol were 'there or thereabouts' for most of the
season but dropped off the pace in the closing stages. They rallied
with a notable triumph 14-19 in the last game at Kingston Park, the
only time Champions Newcastle were downed, but ended up being
pipped to the final play-off spot by two points by Leeds, who held
off Nottingham 30-26 on the same day.
Following the Game
Don't forget that you can keep up-to-speed with news from Jersey v
Bristol through the following channels:
The Greene King IPA Championship this
weekend
The fixture list throws up six pairings of a top six side with
opponents from the bottom half. Success for bottom six sides over
the top six have been rare this season, with just four such wins in
40 games so far.
The four top six teams who are at home will be favourites to
take a win this weekend, but Nottingham may fancy their chances at
home to London Scottish and Plymouth will be desperate to get their
first home Championship win of the season against London
Welsh.
Friday January 31
Nottingham Rugby v London Scottish, 20:00
Saturday February 1
Rotherham Titans v Moseley, 14:00
Plymouth Albion v London Welsh, 15:00
Sunday February 2
Cornish Pirates v Ealing Trailfinders, 14:00
Leeds Carnegie v Bedford Blues, 15:00
And Finally
The weather has caused the cancellation of some local games in
Jersey, but with two visiting sides flying in, the show should be
going on in two instances: Jersey Athletic host Old Albanians in
the Zoo Sports Shield at 12noon on Saturday at St Peter pitch 4,
after which there'll be lunch and 6 Nations action in the
clubhouse. The following day the same pitch is scheduled to host
Jersey United Banks Ladies for their league match against
Teddington.
By the time Sunday's game kicks off, Jersey fly-half Niall
O'Connor may no longer be the most famous person in his family. The
Ulsterman's 16-year-old sister Rachael (pictured above) is
scheduled to be on The Voice on BBC 1 on Saturday evening
and, judging by the preview clips, her voice is every bit as good,
if not quite as deep, as judge Sir Tom Jones.
In other news, a triumph for Jerseyman Matt Banahan last weekend
in an ale-brewing contest against Bath team-mate Duncan Bell.
'Banners' brewed up a batch of 'Jersey Flyer' (as illustrated
above) in conjunction with west country brewer Wadworth, and
his ale outsold the rival brew 'Belly Buster' (see what they did
there?) when the beers went on sale at the Rec for Bath's home game
last weekend.
Enjoy your weekend's rugby!
Tom Innes
