Jersey Reds v Doncaster Knights: Trip to Jersey a ‘must-win’ if Doncaster are to claim Championship title

IF Doncaster Knights have any ambitions of finishing top of the Championship this season, they know victory at Jersey Reds this afternoon is imperative.

Head coach Steve Boden does not need to say that; one look at the table shows it perfectly.

Doncaster were leaders at the turn of the year but are fully aware they have played more games than any of their title rivals.

Promotion favourites Ealing Trailfinders reclaimed top spot last night with a 34-21 win at Nottingham and, after this weekend, they will still have two games in hand over the Knights.

Furthermore, Jersey, in third, are only two points adrift of the Castle Park outfit and still have a fixture to catch up.

In all reality, then, with Cornish Pirates just three points behind and with two games in hand, Knights can ill-afford to lose again this term.

Admittedly, that is a difficult proposition but not one the South Yorkshire club - who are understood to have applied to join the Premiership should they finish top - will shy away from.

They have won eight of their last nine games, a run that started with a 27-24 success over Jersey at Castle Park in October and included a famous win against Ealing with their only setback a loss at Cornish.

Boden insisted: “We’re just going to look at where we can grow as a team.

“We’ve done some good stuff recently so it’s looking at where we can improve. We always concentrate on ourselves.

“We’ve highlighted some areas we know we need to be good at against Jersey this week to try and neutralise them as they are an extremely good side.

“That will be tough to do but we’ll concentrate on ourselves as much as we can.”

Admittedly, Jersey have had some issues on the eve of the game with it being announced yesterday that their director of rugby Harvey Biljon has been banned by the RFU and will not be able to be with the squad on matchday.

He was given a one week suspension on Thursday night after being charged with conduct prejudicial to the interests of the union and the game, relating to comments on the match official following Jersey’s surprise Boxing Day loss at Bedford Blues.

That said, you would expect the Channel Islanders to be able to shrug that aside, especially as they are also so keen to respond to what was only a third defeat of the season,

Boden has made seven changes to the starting XV from Doncaster’s last outing, the Boxing Day win at London Scottish on Boxing Day.

Lock Ben Murphy comes in for the injured John Kelly while returning club captain Sam Graham takes Guido Volpi’s place at openside with Sam Hudson on the opposite flank.

Full-back Billy McBryde reclaims his shirt from Harry Davey as Sam Olver returns at fly-half, Kyle Evans and Maliq Holden are on the wings as Jack Spittle is out injured while Mark Best and Joe Margetts form the centre partnership.

On the bench, prop Charlie Connolly, signed from Chinnor RFC this week as cover for Gaz Denman who is currently out with a neck injury, could make his debut.

Connolly has joined until the end of the season and previously played in the United States with the Houston Sabercats MLR franchise.

Boden said: “We’ve known about Charlie for a few months but he was unavailable whilst playing in America.

“So, when he became available, considering the ongoing injury problems we’ve had at prop this season, it seemed the right time to strengthen our ranks in that area. We’re excited to see how he goes in a Knights shirt, as we feel like his style of game will allow him to contribute well to our squad.”

Meanwhile, Doncaster’s home fixture against Bedford - originally due for New Year’s Day but called off due to Covid cases in the visitors’ camp - has been rescheduled for Saturday February 5 (2.30pm).