Jersey RFC retain key quartet of players

To celebrate the new-year and their current form Jersey RFC have announced they have extended the contracts of four of their key back row players.

Lewis Robling, Ross Adair, Rich Lane and Brendan Cope - will remain Jersey players into the 2016/17 season after featuring prominently in thefirst half of this season.

Robling, 24, is the oldest of the quartet and will embark on his third season on the Island having joined Jersey in summer 2014 from Wales.

A centre who has occasionally been used at fly-half, Robling has started all 35 of Jersey's Greene King IPA Championship matches since his arrival, as well as making seven British & Irish Cup appearances, scoring three tries.

Adair, who joined Jersey from Ulster in June 2015, is another who has featured in every Championship game so far, starting 11 matches and being introduced twice as a replacement, as well as a brace of Cup appearances and three tries in total.

The 21- year-old wing earned international honours for Ireland at under 19 level in both rugby and cricket.

Lane, 22, spent three years with leading Aviva Premiership club Bath before coming to Jersey last summer. The former pupil of Millfield School in Somerset has played at full-back in nine Championship and three B&I matches for the Islanders.

22-year-old fly-half Cope moved to Europe from his native South Africa last summer to join the Islanders, since when he has started all 13 of his side's league matches this season and turned out twice in the B&I Cup.

He has accumulated 113 points in all competitions and featured among the Championship's top points scorers.

Jersey's Head Coach said that discussions with other players were ongoing and that he hoped to secure signatures on more contracts in the coming weeks.

Jersey's players have returned to training this week at the end of a short break following the festive programme of games over Christmas and New Year, and will be in action on home soil next weekend when the Dragons Premiership Select side visit St Peter for a B&I Cup tie.

Jersey have two wins and a draw in the Cup so far and will be seeking another win which would avenge their 30-27 loss to the Dragons inNovember and set up a potential pool 5 decider against Doncaster Knights on January 23rd.

Five pool winners and the three best-placed runners-up will contestquarter-finals of the B&I on the second weekend of March.