New season beckons for Jersey Reds

Friday 24 June 2016

Jersey Reds head coach Harvey Biljon insists - “We will know where we are after Worcester.”

Biljon won’t make any inflated promises ahead of the new season - except that a pre-season friendly against top light outfit Worcester Warriors will be a defining guide to their forthcoming Championship campaign.

The Reds coach will prepare his side for the club's fifth season in the second tier of English rugby with three pre-season matches in August on their home turf at St Peter.

Aviva Premiership club Worcester Warriors will provide the climax to the three-match build-up when they travel to Jersey on Saturday, August 20th. Earlier in the month, the Reds will host two sides from National One - Coventry on Saturday, August 6th and Ampthill on Saturday, August 13th.

The match against Worcester will evoke memories of the 2014-15 season when the sides contested two thrilling encounters in the Greene King IPA Championship before the Warriors subsequently earned promotion via the play-offs. 

Jersey went down 32-29 at Worcester’s Sixways, but then derailed Worcester's 24-match unbeaten run at St Peter with a 23-21 win, sealed by Aaron Penberthy's late drop goal from 45 metres.

Coach Biljon said: “Worcester are a tremendously strong team and I think they will give us an early indication of exactly where we stand in terms of our progress. I don’t want to make too many predictions about where we will end up in the league next season but it is fair to say we will know where we are after Worcester. They will provide quality opposition and the players and coaching staff can only benefit from that. 

“I’m delighted Worcester are coming to Jersey. They won’t have great memories of getting beaten here and although it is a friendly I don’t think they will be coming here expecting a relaxing game. Our supporters will have wonderful memories of that victory two years ago and it promises to be a proper test for the team.”

The new season kicks off for Jersey on the weekend of September 2nd-4th and Biljon says pre-season training has been encouraging. 

“The players are all looking forward to another season and a few may have enjoyed their holidays a bit, but we will soon get them into shape,” said Biljon. “I’m pleased with everything around the squad. We haven’t had any injuries to deal with so far and the players are raring to go. We have a couple coming back from international duty later on this summer, so we will have to get them involved as soon as possible, but overall I’m satisfied with our preparations. 

“Training is important, but there is nothing like a match environment to get players up to speed and that’s why three really testing pre-season friendlies are exactly what we need to get this season up and running.

“Coventry and Ampthill are both very decent sides and again, just like with the Worcester game, they will provide us with plenty of areas where we need to work on before the big kick off starts in September.”