“CONFIDENCE, not arrogance” is the mantra tomorrow, as Jersey RFC travel to bottom-placed Brighton for their final fixture of a stellar 2024.
With just three league fixtures dropped in the calendar year from 33 played, Jersey continue to excel, despite back-to-back promotions.
Expectations were tempered by head coach Myles Landick when embarking on their Regional 1 South Central journey, but all signs point to a side at home playing level five rugby.
Sitting on ten wins from 11 games, they occupy second, ten points adrift of unbeaten London Welsh, with a game in hand over their promotion rivals.
With a healthy balance of experience and academy graduates, the Islanders continue to grow and up their game as the seasons draw on.
Their last test before the new year, comes away at Brighton, which seems benign on paper.
The south coast side are rooted to the foot of the table, with just one victory from 12, and a staggering 39 points behind Jersey.
In the reverse fixture at CoinShares Park in September, Brighton fell 43-17, with stalwarts Jack Macfarlane and Euan Spencer grabbing two tries apiece.
Despite the gulf in class, Landick is adamant that his men will not enter the contest in an arrogant manner.
“There is a huge difference between confidence and arrogance,” he said.
“We are very confident in our ability and confident that we can beat any side on the day, but there is no complacency and certainly no arrogance about it.
“We don’t want to go there and make it a scrappy game.
“Obviously if we are ruthless from the get-go and play the way we can, then we will be very hard to beat.
“But it’s very dangerous to take any one-off fixture as a given, and these guys will not do that.
“We know that teams look at either us or Welsh at the top of the table, desperate to take points from us and therefore play out of their skin.
“However, we are clearly playing well and will take confidence from recent results into tomorrow.”
With the weather on the south coast set to be wet and blustery, it could prove the perfect recipe for Jersey to lean on their most powerful asset this campaign.
A strong set piece and dominance up front has made the Caesareans incredibly tough to face, and with wind set to play a starring role, much of the heavy lifting could fall to the pack.
Morgan Brady was right at home up front on debut in last week’s home win over Hammersmith & Fulham, but his heavily strapped finger entering the event has been confirmed as a broken finger.
Two replacements from last weekend in Bryn Edwards and Tom Wilson get the nod from the outset, in an incredibly strong side which underscores Landick’s pledge not to take Brighton lightly.
Across the backs meanwhile, Max Harrington returns at 9 for Callum Cuthbert, while Aaron Penberthy makes his second start of the campaign following a polished kicking display last weekend.
His return enabled Scott Van Breda to shift across to centre and he continues there alongside former Jersey Reds teammate Dan Barnes.
Teenager Lance Armstrong impressed at wing on debut and retains his spot, meaning the change at scrum-half is the only adjustment across the backs from the victory against Hammersmith & Fulham.
Discussing the prospect of the poor forecast, Landick added: “It all comes down to confidence again.
“We have that in abundance with our set-piece and we have shown our ability to play in really wet and windy conditions, as we did at CS Stags.
“It was a horrible day, but we just mauled, and mauled and mauled to victory.
“That’s the advantage of having such experience in the forwards and, if it does turn out to be similar conditions, we can lean on that, and the win over CS Stags.
“But it won’t be the only element. There will be times we can use the wind as our friend also.
“And with some great kicking options across the backs, hopefully we can make the most of the conditions when they are in our favour.
“The main message this game is to finish on a high and have confidence in our ability, but certainly not going there with anything as a given.
“We’ve got a huge job to do, and we don’t want it to turn into a close, scrappy affair.
Play is set to get underway from Waterhall tomorrow at 2pm.
Jersey RFC to face Brighton [1-15]: Huw Owen, Jack Macfarlane, Tom Wilson, Max Ayling, Bryn Edwards, Cam Keys, Evan Whitson (c), Euan Spencer, Max Harrington, Aaron Penberthy, Lance Armstrong, Dan Barnes, Scott Van Breda, Bevan Biggs, Mark Boarer. Replacements: Jake Bates, PJ Dodge, Nathan Rogers
