Jersey Reds

For the defunct American basketball team, see Jersey Reds (basketball).

Jersey Reds

File:Jersey Reds.png
Full name	Jersey Reds, formerly Jersey Rugby Football Club
Union	Hampshire RFU
Nickname(s)	The Reds
Founded	1879 (1879)
Location	Saint Peter, Jersey, Channel Islands
Ground(s)	Stade Santander International (capacity: 4,000 (200 seated)
Chairman	Mark Morgan (since 2016)
Director of Rugby	Harvey Biljon (Since 2014)
Captain(s)	Lewis Wynne
League(s)	RFU Championship
2020–21	4th
Team kit
Official website
www.jerseyreds.je

Jersey Reds (Jèrriais: Les Roge dé Jèrri) is a rugby club based in Jersey that currently competes at the RFU Championship, the second tier of English professional rugby. The club also has an amateur men's side, Jersey Reds Athletic, who play in the Raging Bull Shield Division 1; Jersey Reds Women, who play in the Women's National Championship South 2 league; and a thriving Mini section with over 500 boys and girls participating.

For the first season of the national leagues in England in 1987–88, Jersey were in London Three South-West (level 7), and didn't play any higher until promotion in 2005.

Two professional players were signed in 2006 and gradually the club's 1st XV shifted towards full-time professionalism, which was introduced in 2013. By this time Jersey had been promoted four more times to reach, by 2012, the second level of the English pyramid, playing in the Greene King IPA Championship. During this period Jersey contested the knock-out competition for the four winners of the regional leagues at level 5 in 2009–10, defeating Taunton in the semi-final and then Ampthill in the final at Twickenham.

The team was known as Jersey Rugby Football Club until the start of the 2016–17 season, when they changed their name to the Jersey Reds. To reflect this, the team also adopted an all-red kit – jersey, shorts and socks.

History

The Beginnings

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 and its approximate location was in the middle of what is now 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 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, including JPR Williams. This decade left the club with an unequalled collection of plaques and memorabilia, with teams coming from England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, South Africa, Australia (the beachguard connection) and the Netherlands.

The National Leagues

The current clubhouse was opened in September 1994 and corresponded approximately with the start of the National leagues in England. By then Jersey could no longer rely on random visiting sides playing friendlies and chose 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 as was 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 first team then worked its way up the National Leagues, winning the overall National League 3 in 2010 and progressing to National League 2 South. In 2011, Jersey were promoted to National League 1 through a play-off game at home to Loughborough Students. This was followed by promotion to the Championship at the end of the 2011/12 season.

The club had excellent 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.

The Championship

The 2012/13 season was the club's first in the second tier of English rugby. The team struggled over the first couple of seasons but managed to avoid relegation. Following those difficult seasons, the club has been able to establish itself as a solid member of the Championship and has delivered the following season-end positions: -

2012/13 – 11th

2013/14 – 11th

2014/15 – 7th

2015/16 – 6th

2016/17 – 5th

2017/18 – 5th

2018/19 – 4th

2019/20 – 6th (season terminated early due to Covid pandemic)

2020/21 – 6th (short season again due to pandemic)

Over recent years, the club has also developed a name for beating the team in the Championship that went on to be promoted to the Premiership that season. These wins have included: -

2015 – beating Worcester 23–21 at home

2017 – beating London Irish 15–11 at home and again 17–25 away just one week later

2018 – beating Bristol 34–38 away at Ashton Gate

2018 – beating London Irish17-14 at home

2019 – beating the Russian National team in Moscow 22-35 (This was a World Cup warm-up game for the hosts)

Siam Cup

Main article: 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. Due to its historical value, the actual Siam Cup is on displayat Twickenham, the home of English rugby. The trophy is the second oldest rugby trophy in the world to be contested after the Calcutta Cup.

In 2016, it was declared that Jersey would voluntarily 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.

The change has proven very beneficial to the overall balance of the contest as results since the change show.

	Pts	Pts	Tries	Tries
	Jersey	Guernsey	Jersey	Guernsey
2016	33	19	4	3
2017	20	18	2	2
2018	30	46	4	7
2019	29	19	4	3
2021	14	13	2	1
	126	115	16	16

However, with Guernsey now playing at level 4 and pushing for level 3, the voluntary guidelines may need to be revised.

British and Irish Cup

Jersey first entered the competition in the 2012/13 season. Outstanding performances are as follows: -

·       2015–16 Semi–final – lost 33–32 away to Yorkshire Carnegie

·       2016–17 Finalist – lost 29–28 away to Munster “A”

·       2017–18 Semi-final – lost 27–29 home to Leinster “A” (This was the last season of this competition).

Lions, Tigers, Sharks and Roses

Jersey Reds hosted Leicester Tigers August 27th 2021

Jersey's reputation as a professional club has been instrumental in attracting major teams to the Island to help them prepare for upcoming matches.

In June 2021, the British and Irish Lions squad visited Jersey for 10 days as they prepared for their ill-fated tour to South Africa. As well as their regular training, two open sessions were held each of which saw some 1,500 local enthusiasts watching their heroes train.

This was followed by the visits of Leicester Tigers and Sale Sharks, each for a week of preseason work. Jersey Reds played both clubs on successive Fridays. They were beaten 7-17 b the Tigers and 0-19 by Sale.

Finally, Eddie Jones brought his England squad to the club during October 2021 as preparation for their successful Autumn International season where they beat Tonga, Australia and South Africa. Once again, the club hosted an open training session for 1,500 fans.

Ground

Jersey play at the Stade Santander International which is adjacent to Jersey Airport.

Honours

• Siam Cup winners: 54 times
• Hampshire 1 champions (2): 1991–92, 1994–95
• London Division 3 South West champions: 2004–05
• London 2 (north v south) promotion playoff winners: 2007–08
• National League 3 London & SE champions: 2009–10
• National 3 Champions Cup winners: 2009–10
• National League 2 (north v south) promotion play-off winner: 2010–11
• National League 1 champions: 2011–12

Current standings

2021–22 RFU Championship Table
	Club	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points for	Points against	Diff	Try bonus	Losing bonus	Points
1	Ealing Trailfinders	20	16	0	4	890	336	554	15	1	80
2	Doncaster Knights	20	17	0	3	524	322	202	9	0	77
3	Cornish Pirates	20	14	2	4	521	365	156	12	1	73
4	Jersey Reds	20	13	1	6	596	436	160	12	3	69
5	Bedford Blues	20	9	0	11	536	503	33	10	4	50
6	Ampthill	20	8	2	10	420	511	−91	6	4	46
7	Hartpury	20	7	1	12	524	515	9	10	6	46
8	Coventry	20	9	0	11	468	582	−114	7	2	45
9	Richmond	20	7	1	12	440	546	−106	7	5	42
10	Nottingham	20	5	0	15	407	690	−283	6	4	30
11	London Scottish	20	1	1	18	326	846	−520	3	2	11
If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won Difference between points for and against Total number of points for Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
Green background Championship winners Updated: 2 April 2022 Source: "The Championship". England Rugby.

Current squad

For player movements before or during the 2022–23 season, see List of 2022–23 RFU Championship transfers § Jersey Reds.

The Jersey Reds squad for the 2022–23 season.

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 Eoghan Clarke Hooker Ireland Harry Doolan Hooker England James Hadfield Hooker England Antonio Harris Hooker England Sam Grahamslaw Prop Scotland Steve Longwell Prop Scotland Greg McGrath Prop Ireland Adam Nicol Prop Scotland Huw Owen Prop Wales Hamish Bain Lock Scotland Tom Everard Lock England Freddie Lockwood Lock England Sean O'Connor Lock Ireland Ethan Rault Lock Wales James Scott Lock England Maz Argyle Back row England Macauley Cook Back row Wales James Dun Back row England Josh Gray Back row England Tim Grey Back row Wales Alun Lawrence Back row Wales Lewis Wynne Back row Scotland

Player Position Union James Elliott Scrum-half England James Mitchell Scrum-half England Jonny Law Scrum-half England Toby Venner Scrum-half England Russell Bennett Fly-half England Brendan Cope Fly-half South Africa Tom Pittman Fly-half England Dan Barnes Centre England Jordan Holgate Centre South Africa Alex McHenry Centre Ireland Charlie Powell Centre England Will Brown Wing Scotland Ryan Hutler Wing England Tomi Lewis Wing Wales Ben Woollett Wing Australia Brendan Owen Fullback South Africa Scott van Breda Fullback South Africa

External links

• Jersey Rugby official homepage