Jersey Reds

Jersey Reds
Full name Jersey Rugby Football Club
Union Hampshire RFU
Nickname(s) The Islanders
Founded 1879 (1879)
Location Saint Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands
Ground(s) St. Peter (Capacity: 4,000)
Chairman Mark Morgan
Coach(es) Harvey Biljon
League(s) RFU Championship
2016–17 5th
Team kit
Official website
www.jerseyreds.je

Jersey Rugby Football Club is a rugby club based in Jersey that competes at the RFU Championship.[1] In the 2009–10 season JRFC won their play-off at Twickenham and also in the 2012–13 beat their greatest rivals Guernsey to win the Siam Cup for the fifth consecutive year. Jersey gained promotion by winning National League One and are now in RFU Championship.

The team was known as Jersey R.F.C. until the start of the 2016–17 season, when they changed their name to the Jersey Reds.[2]

History

Rugby has been played in Jersey since 1879 with breaks for war and the Nazi occupation but the modern era started when the club acquired the land for a permanent home in Saint Peter near Jersey Airport in 1961; the original wooden clubhouse was built in 1964, its approximate location was in the middle of the Jersey Bowl carpark. From the early 1970s, when tourism in the island was at its peak, Jersey attracted many of rugby's top clubs who could combine a break from their regular fixtures with a game against the JRFC.

This period culminated with a very successful Centenary year in 1979, teams with international players came over to play and help celebrate this event – JPR Williams being one of the most famous! This decade left the club with an unequalled collection of plaques and memorabelia; teams coming from the UK, Ireland, South Africa, Australia (the beachguard connection) and the Netherlands.

Jersey vs. Barking at St. Peter, 5 November 2011.

The current clubhouse was opened in September 1994 and corresponded approximately with the start of the leagues; by then Jersey could not rely on random visiting sides and had to join the league in Hampshire.

In the summer of 2010 the new Lord Jersey Stand was built between the 1st XV pitch and the Airport Road and the Pavilion, with kitchen and bar, to the east of the main club facilities. This was to provide amenities for the increasing number of spectators due to the further success of the 1st XV.

The last few years have seen the first team work its way up the National Leagues, winning the overall National League 3 in 2010 and progressing to National League 2 South. Most recently in 2011, Jersey were promoted to National League 1 through a play-off game at home to Loughborough Students.[3] The clubs kit is red with black shorts and socks and the away shirts are blue with black shorts and socks.

During their first season in National League 1 Jersey suffered a narrow defeat in their first game against Fylde[4] and also lost their first home game in two and a half years against Ealing.[5] They were also docked 5 points for fielding too many foreign players in their defeat to Cinderford.[6] Despite these setbacks Jersey bounced back winning 11 games in a row and ended 2011 second in the National League 1 table, only 1 point behind Ealing.[7] In their first game of 2012 they beat top of the table Ealing 24–16, making promotion a very real possibility.[8] This run continued with wins against Rosslyn Park, Cinderford, Wharfedale and Stourbridge giving them 19 wins in a row but stuttered against Barking but since have won all their remaining games, most notably an away win against Coventry in which over 400 Jersey fans went to Coventry,[9] to win promotion to the Championship.[10] They had fantastic attendances at St Peter during the 2011–12 National League 1 season including a club record crowd of 3,648 for a 20-18 win over Rosslyn Park on 25 January 2012.[11]

In July 2012, it was reported that the States of Jersey Economic Development Department would sponsor the club for one year at a cost of £75,000.[12]

Siam Cup

The Siam Cup is the annual Rugby Union competition held between the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey. It was first contested in 1920.[13] The trophy awarded its winner is the second oldest rugby honour contested after the Calcutta Cup.[14] In 2016, it was declared that Jersey could only select players for the Siam Cup if they had been on the island for three years, Guernsey, playing in a league at Level 5, would be unaffected by the change.[15][16]

British and Irish Cup

First entered competition in 2012-13 season.

Ground

Jersey play at the St. Peter grounds which is adjacent to Jersey Airport. Jersey have lodged planning applications to build a stand seating around 950 people, extensions to the clubhouse, permission to use a new pitch for parking and an entrance to this from the road.[18]

Club honours

Current standings

2016–17 RFU Championship Table
Club Played Won Drawn Lost Points for Points against Points diff Try bonus Loss bonus Points
1 London Irish (C) 20 19 0 1 712 290 422 13 1 91
2 Yorkshire Carnegie (F) 20 15 0 5 619 461 158 11 3 74
3 Ealing Trailfinders (SF) 20 12 1 6 584 427 157 7 3 60
4 Doncaster Knights (SF) 20 12 0 8 514 424 90 9 1 58
5 Jersey Reds 20 11 0 9 459 451 8 7 7 58
6 Cornish Pirates 20 9 2 9 559 497 62 8 7 55
7 London Scottish 20 7 0 13 465 605 −140 7 5 40
8 Bedford Blues 20 6 1 13 496 569 −73 9 5 40
9 Nottingham Rugby 20 7 1 12 419 542 −123 4 5 39
10 Richmond 20 5 0 15 347 585 −238 4 2 26
11 Rotherham Titans 20 4 1 15 333 656 −323 2 2 22
  • If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Difference between points for and against
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
  5. Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
Green background are promotion play-off places. (There is no relegation this season.)
Updated: 15 April 2017
Source:"Greene King IPA Championship". England Rugby. RFU. Retrieved 19 February 2017. 
  • Had either Ealing or Doncaster won the play-offs, they would not have accepted promotion, causing no side to be promoted and the bottom Premiership club retaining their place. This did not happen, as London Irish and Yorkshire Carnegie (both of which met the Premiership's minimum standards) won the play-off semi-finals.
Notes

    Current squad

    2017-18 Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

    Player Position Union
    Jack Macfarlane Hooker Scotland Scotland
    Jared Saunders Hooker South Africa South Africa
    Nick Selway Hooker England England
    Jake Armstrong Prop England England
    Jordan Brodley Prop England England
    Alec Carey Prop England England
    Roy Godfrey Prop South Africa South Africa
    Lee Roy Atalifo Prop Fiji Fiji
    Jake Woolmore Prop England England
    Dave McKern Lock Australia Australia
    Tom Quarrie Lock New Zealand New Zealand
    Matt Rogerson Lock England England
    Jerry Sexton Lock Ireland Ireland
    James Voss Lock England England
    Rory Bartle Flanker Wales Wales
    Conor Joyce Flanker Ireland Ireland
    Seb Nagle-Taylor Flanker England England
    Uili Koloʻofai Flanker Tonga Tonga
    Max Argyle Number 8 England England
    Rory Pitman Number 8 Wales Wales
    Player Position Union
    Tim Duchesne Scrum-half Australia Australia
    Joel Dudley Scrum-half England England
    Kieran Hardy Scrum-half Wales Wales
    Oliver Bryant Fly-half England England
    Brendan Cope Fly-half South Africa South Africa
    Ellie Abrahams Centre Australia Australia
    Mark Best Centre Ireland Ireland
    George Eastwell Centre England England
    Apakuki Ma'afu Centre Tonga Tonga
    Ross Adair Wing Ireland Ireland
    Josh Hodson Wing Wales Wales
    Tom Pincus Wing Australia Australia
    Scott van Breda Fullback South Africa South Africa
    Jason Worrall Fullback South Africa South Africa

    References

    1. ↑ <http://www.jrfc.je/>
    2. ↑ "JRFC announces launch of the Jersey Reds" (Press release). Jersey Reds. 27 May 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
    3. ↑ <http://www.jrfc.je/aboutus/history/>
    4. ↑ <http://www.channelonline.tv/channelonline_rugby/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=495859>
    5. ↑ <http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/14948852.stm>
    6. ↑ <http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/15196034.stm>
    7. ↑ <http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/16298474.stm>
    8. ↑ <http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/16383218.stm>
    9. ↑ <http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/17744031>
    10. ↑ <http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/17837574>
    11. ↑ "Jersey 20 - 18 Rosslyn Park - Match Report & Highlights". Sky Sports. 25 January 2012.
    12. ↑ "States department sponsors Jersey Rugby Club". BBC. 3 July 2012.
    13. ↑ "Siam cup". Jersey RFC. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
    14. ↑ "Siam Cup Preview". BBC. 5 May 2007. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
    15. ↑ http://jerseyeveningpost.com/sport/2016/01/09/rugby-major-siam-shake-up/
    16. ↑ "Siam Cup 2016: Only eight Jersey professionals will play against Guernsey". BBC. 16 March 2016.
    17. ↑ "Jersey reds lose at Irish Independent Park". Jersey Evening Post. 21 April 2017.
    18. ↑ "Ground developments at JRFC". Jrfc.je. 21 March 2012.
    19. ↑ http://www.hampshirerugby.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=831&Itemid=478
    20. ↑ http://www.hampshirerugby.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=809&Itemid=458
    21. ↑ London 3 South-West. Hampshirerugby.co.uk.
    22. ↑ MatchByDivision. Clubs.rfu.com.
    23. ↑ BBC Sport – Rugby Union – Jersey win National Three Cup Final. BBC News (8 May 2010).
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