ENGLAND
RFU CHAMPIONSHIP
JERSEY REDS
Captain Lewis Wynne
Coaches Harvey Biljon (DoR), Rob Webber (head-fwds), Tom Williams (asst)
Jersey Reds toppled Ealing to win the Championship for the first time in the club’s history. They only lost one game all year, away to the Trailfinders on Christmas Eve, and in the return fixture all but sealed the trophy with a 19-13 victory at Stade Santander. Victory over Ampthill confirmed an historic title.
It was the culmination of nine years of hard work for DoR Biljon. “When that final whistle went, there was a rush of emotion. It was just unbelievable. It has been a roller-coaster journey,” he said. Goalkicker Russell Bennett finished with 143 points while wings Will Brown (14) and Tomi Lewis (12) shared 26 tries.
NATIONAL ONE
CAMBRIDGE
Captain George Bretag-Norris
Coaches Richie Williams (DoR-backs), Neil Harris (fwds), Anthony Allen (defence)
The Blood & Sand will make their Championship debut next September in their centenary year. They secured this title with a bonus-point win against Birmingham Moseley – if they’d lost or drawn, they would have finished third.
In the end, Cambridge took top spot as they had drawn one match compared to the Rams’ none and lost one game fewer. Both clubs had 114 league points.
DoR Williams said: “Our driving lineout was aCollins and Seb Brownhill complemented an already powerful front row and fly-half Steffan James, another newcomer, orchestrated a dangerous attack.”
