Uckfield V Jersey U15 Boys

Conditions were a stark contrast to the mud bath experienced on their last outing when JRFC U15s travelled to Uckfield last Sunday. Clear skies, no wind & good ground, albeit a chilly 4˚, allowed Jersey to employ a strong running game which ultimately proved to good for their opposition. That being said, hosts Uckfield started aggressively & appeared to favour the physical battle in the forwards with plenty of hard rucking & some strong ball carries. Jersey weathered the opening assaults before starting to move the ball away from the breakdown area to find space along the back line. However, it was a strong forward drive inside the 22 that led to Ollie Wiseman going over the line for the opening try on 19 minutes, converted by Ryan Allen-Le Bas. 0-7. Jersey, realising that quick rucking & moving the ball through the hands was most effective, created a nice gap in the opposition defence for full back Archie Donnelly to join the line, exploit the hole & run in under the posts from just inside the opposition half, 0-14. It wasn’t too long before a similar approach allowed Donnelly to be the extra man on the end of the line & he scooted round the outside to dot down to the right of the posts. 0-21. Jersey were now in command, captain, Eoin Mann rounded ff a strong forward drive by forcing himself over from about 8 metres. Half-time 0-26.

Second half continued much as the first, fly-half Le Bas finding space after forwards produced quick ball, got through the line and ran in close to the posts. 0-33. It was a case of déjà vu from the restart with Le Bas getting a 2^nd try. 0-40. With the pack now dominating forward exchanges also they managed a couple of tries themselves – firstly James Wiseman driving over from 5 metres, 0-45, followed by Mann scoring his second through a catch & drive lineout from 10 metres, 0-52. All credit to Uckfield, they kept hard at it through the encounter & were rewarded with the final score of the match, 5-52.

Uckfield selected Eoin Mann as Jersey’s player of the match, however, special mention for Ryan Allen-Le Bas’ distribution & goal kicking is warranted.

We would like to thank our main sponsor, Santander International for their continued support as well as Jersey Sport for travel grant funding.

Connor Brennan, Oliver Matete, Harrison Cordiner, Oli Wiseman, James Wiseman, Harrison Fitzpatrick, Eoin Mann (C), Ianto Davies, Robbie Milner, Ryan Allen Le Bas, George Gudur, Owen Carter, Frankie Lawrence-Prince, Finn Roberts, Archie Donnelly, Oliver Ramage, James Le Cornu, Carter Ferey, Aphonso Correia

Dave Clark, Jo Shipton-Taylor, Jambo Wiseman