Guernsey scrum half Divon Crouse, who had an excellent game, cannot escape the clutches of Jersey substitute Kern Yates. (Picture by Richard Wainwright, 0766324)
Jersey 34, Guernsey 6
POWER proved to be the key as Jersey regained the Siam Cup for the first time in three years on Saturday at St Peter.
At half-time, with just two points separating the teams, it was anyone’s game.
However, it was the hosts’ team-talk at the interval that did the trick and the message was simple – ‘keep it in the tight and our pack will dictate’.
The bigger Jersey forwards and their fresh substitutes did just that and with aplomb in a match that was, disappointingly, not much of a spectacle.
Valiant Guernsey fought hard and were still within seven points when the match entered injury time, but by then they were out on their feet and cruelly conceded three more tries to give the hosts an extremely flattering margin of victory.
The first of those was a penalty try awarded by referee Luke Pearce at a five-metre scrum when the home side got the inevitable push on and it signalled the end for the visitors.
‘It was a closely contested match until the last 15 minutes,’ said Guernsey player-coach Jordan Reynalds.
‘There was only a converted try in it until that scrum and penalty try.
‘I thought the referee had a fantastic game, although it was a little strange to award [the penalty try] without a warning and that was demoralising for us.
‘We just did not have enough left in the tank at that point – we were running on reserves.’
Looking back, it was a case of what-ifs for Reynalds and his team.
They had started really well, looking composed, organised and in no way the 28 places they finished below Jersey in the national league ladder this season.
Nick Barton did miss an early shot at goal from 30 yards out to the right of the posts, but it did not bother anyone in green on the pitch – they continued to go efficiently about their business.
That was until the crucial lapse of the half with six minutes gone.
Reynalds was looking to find the space out on the right flank to set James Regnard on a chase, but the player-coach was not quick enough in getting his kick away.
Scrum-half Brendan O’Brien applied the pressure, charged down the kick and collected to have a clear 20m-run to the line.
‘I put my hands up for that one,’ Reynalds said afterwards.
‘Starts like that do not really help, but I felt we came back well from it.’
The first of the obligatory Siam Cup fracas soon broke out with Regnard and Steve O’Brien having to be separated and Guernsey should have been eight points behind moments later but Mitch Burton failed with his penalty from on the 22.
Importantly, the visitors were on the board soon afterwards as Barton made Jersey pay for a comical penalty when fullback Michael Le Bourgeois booted his kick straight into the back of dummy runner Sam Tuia.
The two Jersey backs almost combined properly five minutes later with Le Bourgeois giving Tuia a kick to chase.
The powerful little centre was within just a couple of metres of the line but could not reach it as debutant Robin Le Cocq grabbed his ankle for just long enough to allow his teammates to file back and complete the denial.
That was one of several noteworthy moments for Le Cocq on a memorable Siam debut when he thoroughly vindicated the selectors’ faith in him.
However, Jersey maintained that brief period of pressure and turned it into points when Burton successfully converted a straightforward penalty after Jason Batiste had been too eager to get out of the traps and was caught offside.
But Guernsey knew they were still right in it and were functioning well, particularly in the line-out and it was helping to give them a platform from which Divon Crouse and Blair Campbell were calling the shots intelligently.
It was from one of those set pieces that they created their best opening of the half, two minutes from the break.
Having set up quick ball from the resulting ruck, Crouse changed the angle of attack and darted out to the left where he found Jim Elliott in support.
But just as the many hundreds of Guernsey fans held their breath in anticipation, the winger’s quick shovel pass flew straight into touch rather than finding intended target Bradley Choules.
They were not to get as good a chance to cross the line again.
However, with Jersey penalised for collapsing the scrum, Guernsey did finish the half on a high as Barton stroked over his second penalty to give his side a lift for the break.
Up to that point they had thoroughly matched their opponents, but the loss of Tuia to injury for the second half probably played a part in their downfall because Jersey had lost their main attacking option in the backs and it decided their game-plan for the rest of the match for them.
The Reds were on the front foot from the off after the turnaround and within six minutes their immense scrum pushed Guernsey back and fly half Tom Turner showed some neat footwork to get to the line from half-back partner O’Brien’s pass.
To their great credit, Guernsey kept the scoreline at 13-6 for the next 35 minutes thanks to hard graft and dogged defence as well as one penalty miss from Le Bourgeois.
Along with Le Cocq, Crouse shone with his endeavour and Barton, as usual, never shirked any work.
But the Greens do not have the luxury of being able to bring on four forwards from the bench who are as good as the starters.
Jersey do and it was to prove telling.
The writing was on the wall when, on 66min., the ball went to ground just as Reynalds had seemingly set up a move that looked threatening.
Guernsey began to ring the changes with Regnard, who wore No. 6 because the winger’s shirt was far too small, moving into a more familiar role in the back row and he had an impact, but his pack mates were exhausted.
The penalty try, converted by Le Bourgeois on 81min., was a deserved score for Jersey as a stamp of their second-half superiority.
Further tries from the outstanding lock Paul Rodgers and another for Turner just rubbed salt into the wounds.
‘Jersey’s scrummaging was the best it has been for the last three years,’ Reynalds admitted.
‘In retrospect, they did not affect our backline at all, they just ground us down in the forwards – that is what it came down to.
‘Next year I think we just have to do three or four weeks extra fitness work,’ he added with a wry grin.
The coach also added a word of praise for his flanker debutant.
‘Hands down I thought Robin was man of the match.
‘The guy has come in for his first Siam and I cannot fault his game.
‘If he can learn the trade a bit more from “Barts”, he will get even better. I also felt Divon had a very good game and Blair’s kicking, especially in the first half, was phenomenal.
‘It is just a bit of a shame the way it panned out in the end. We’ll just have to get it back next year.’
Article posted on 4th May, 2009 - 2.29pm
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