Jersey 12 Leeds Carnegie 27: Clegg gains revenge for Leeds

Carnegie’s British & Irish Cup victory, albeit in a dead rubber of a match, provided the perfect antidote for the frustrations of Christmas and New Year, which began with a Championship defeat in the Channel Islands.

On-loan fly-half Rory Clegg orchestrated the win much to the delight of coach Diccon Edwards.

“Rory was outstanding,” said Edwards. “We were motivated by what happened here before and wanted to be responsible for our own performance rather than make excuses.”

Clegg opened the scoring with a straightforward penalty before captain Ryan Burrows hit back.

In difficult conditions, a second try eventually came, Curtis Wilson benefitting from Clegg’s long mis-pass. And there was a third just before the break when Chris Walker went over.

Clegg and Wilson began the second half by reprising their earlier double-act for a try in the opposite corner. The 1,700 home crowd were fearful of a hammering, but a triple substitution in the forwards sparked their team into action.

With the result already assured, the final 35 minutes were in total contrast to what went before, with Jersey’s scrum becoming a lethal weapon to which the visitors had no answer, with two penalty tries being awarded.

Carnegie’s indiscipline saw three players ousted. Dominic Barrow was sin-binned for preventing quick ball, replacement Sam Lockwood for a scrum offence and Walker saw red after running in from distance to join an outbreak of fighting.

Jersey: Le Bourgeois; Sanders, Bishop (capt), Cooper, Levesley (Bryce 31); Broadfoot, Griffiths (McCormack 77); Barrington (McCarthy 66), Clare (Felton 45), Gethings (Brennan 45), Anderson (Hannay 45), Markham, Rodgers, Lang, Thompson (Bell 25).

Leeds Carnegie: Georgiou; Clark (McColl 35), Goss (Ford 66), Lucock, Wilson; Clegg, Hampson; Harris (Lockwood 62), Graham (Nilsen 77), Tussac, Smith, Phillips (Baldwin 21), Barrow (Rowan 62), Walker, Burrows (capt). Unused replacement: Doherty.

Referee: A Jackson (RFU).