The Lord Jersey Cup was the pinnacle of all the schools tournaments played across the Island throughout March. Thanks to Lord Jersey’s generosity and support, teams competed for over £10,000 worth of prizes with some excellent rugby being played. De La Salle's year 11 team proved how strong they were throughout the day with a 24 – 0 victory over a gallant Les Quennevais team in the Final. The Guernsey representative side beat Victoria College in the Plate final and Grainville beat Hautlieu in the Bowl final.

The rugby was a credit to the time and effort put in by players, teachers and coaches and former World Cup winner and British Lion, Richard Hill, who was the special guest at the event. He commented on the standard of rugby and great atmosphere generated as he presented the trophies and medals to the pupils. Richard was also the guest of Lord Jersey at the evening dinner reception for over 170 people and he spoke to Jersey’s rugby followers about his experiences in rugby and took questions from the floor about his achievements to date.

 

February's Referee Course went very well and all the candidates, as well as the course leader, enjoyed it and learnt a great deal from the two day session.

The course was run by Dave Hayward, the RFU Referee's Tutor for London and South East, for 12 candidates ranging from school boys all the way through to Academy Coaches and school teachers.

The course consisted of practical and theory work and was assessed through a written exam paper and an observation of the candidates refereeing skills in a variety of practical contexts. All 12 candidates passed the course and will hopefully now progress to refereeing a wide variety of rugby across Jersey.

The 12 successful candidates included Richard Sutton, George Thomas, Geoffrey Knott, Clive Russell, Joel Hayward,Simon Burgess, Ashley Burgess, Pat Dean, Chris Lanyon, Ted Pafitis, Paul Le Bihan and me!

Rugby Ready Course on the evening of Wednesday 10th March till 9.30pm at JRFC.

This course is for coaches and teachers who want to be better coaches and improve their ability to introduce the fundamentals of contact rugby ( You will be shown the progressions for: Tackling, scrummaging, the lineout, the ruck and the maul and how to teach / coach this safely and effectively ). If you are interested in doing a level 1 coaching course, you must have completed the rugbyready course prior to enrolling on a level 1 course.

Please fill in the application form and return preferably by this Friday 26th February so I can order resources from the RFU. The course costs £20 and cheques should be made payable to 'The Jersey Rugby Development Committee'.

Safeguarding and Protecting Young People in Rugby course ( cost £15 )

Will be led by RFU officials at Jersey Rugby Club on Sunday 14th march at 9.00am - 12.00pm. This is for any member of staff or volunteer who is working with or has the responsibility for children and young people.

The course lasts 3 hours and is for any member of staff or volunteer who is working with or has the responsibility for children and young people. By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

Those who attend will receive all the course resources and a certificate of attendance. If you are interested, could you please fill in the application form and send it back to me. If you are a member of the Academy, the cost of the course will be met by the Academy. I cannot stress enough the importance of attending this course if you want to make the environment our young people play and enjoy rugby in a safer and securer one. The closing date for applications is Friday 26th February.

Lord Jersey Cup, Thursday 18th march at Jersey Rugby Club, 1 - 4pm.

This is a school's cup competition involving all Year 11 teams from all the school's on the island, and also a representative side from Guernsey. Lord Jersey sponsors the event and Richard Hill, Former British Lion and England World Cup winning back row player, will be in attendance to present the trophy to the winning team.

Hill will also be present at an evening dinner reception at Jersey RFC, where he will be talking about his rugby career and taking questions from the floor surrounding his achievements to date. For tickets and further information, please contact me using the contact details provided.