Match Preview

St Jacques Vikings face the biggest test of their season on Saturday as Barns Green visit Footes Lane for the league title decider, immediately after Guernsey Raiders vs Old Redcliffians.

Ray Smart’s side have had a perfect league season so far, winning 16 out of 16 league matches including twice securing victories over this weeks visitors. They will however be under no illusions of the task at hand, and are fully focused on producing a good performance and with it the victory.

Barns Green may have lost to the Vikings twice this season, however they have not lost to any other team in Sussex Two and will arrive in Guernsey in a confident mood that they can turn over the black-and-yellows when it matters the most. Barns Green have a strong set piece and some good ball players in their back-line, and they will be keen to try and spread around the Footes Lane turf.

After securing a good away victory over St Francis last weekend Ray Smart wants his Vikings side to carry that form into this crunch match.

“We were excellent last week against St Francis who were really up for that match. We had players playing out of position and we had a minimal warm-up due to travel delays, but we adapted really well and played some excellent rugby. I just hope we can take that forward into this week and build on it.”

“The key areas for us to focus on are to get our defensive set up right from the start and to be patient both on attack and defence. When we take our time and when we get our defensive spacing and line-speed right we are a much better side, and this is when we usually play our best rugby.”

Captain Leon Gardner and talisman no 8 James Regnard both return in the forwards after missing last week. Another key player for the Vikings who was unavailable through injury last weekend is Lucas Barker, and too to return at scrum-half . The island cricketer has been excellent for the Vikings all season and brings a real physicality and a big character to their back-line.

With Matt Lomas required by the Raiders Leon Collenette will continue at fly-half and he has played exceptionally well there so far this season. He will be expected to spread the ball around the big Footes Lane pitch and open up attacking opportunities for the Vikings.

Alan Myers and James Mroch join Gardner in the front row, whilst Brad Webb and Jacob Smith are in the engine room. Darrin Bellingham and Mitch Smith join up with Regnard to form a big starting pack for the Vikings.

With Cashel Cahill away, Callum Gladstone required for the Raiders and Connor Sullivan injured Smart has been forced into a bit of a reshuffle in the backline. Phil Le Noury and Cam Le Prevost who have both played mostly on the wing this season start in the centres, however both are big defenders for the Vikings and know the backs patterns well and are expected to slot in without issue. Le Noury plays in the centres for the RBSI Academy Colts so this will not be unfamiliar surroundings for him.

There will be a further two current Academy Colts in the squad with Kieran Creber and Tom Bray involved, with the former starting on the wing. It is excellent to see that the development pathway between the RBSI Academy, the Vikings and Raiders is working so well with three under 18’s playing in such a crucial match.

The experienced heads of Vets forwards Dave Harvey and Dave McGall are named on the bench, along with the returning Luke Skovronek and Barney Paul, Alex Lock and Chris Croft.

The Vikings know they must secure the win to guarantee the league title, so it is all to play for on Saturday afternoon. They will be hoping for a big crowd, with hopefully many of the Raiders supporters staying on to cheer them on. Kick-off is 4pm at Footes Lane.

The Raiders kick-off against Old Redcliffians at 2pm with the RBSI U13's also playing at 12pm on a bumper Saturday of rugby at Footes Lane.