Grant takes over the reins

IT IS an exciting time to be part of St Jacques. Last season's winners of the McMillan Cup have been picking up more new players as well as new coaches in the build-up to this year's Jersey Rugby Association League campaign and signs are promising.

The arrival of South African coach Wesley Grant has given the squad a more professional approach and he is working alongside Steve de Jersey to continue the progressive steps that were made last season.

The new coaching combination has allowed Stef Bampton to return as first team captain and it is a role he is relishing, especially with all the recent arrivals.

'It would be fair to say the game of rugby is becoming more popular. There are more people wanting to have a go at it and we are picking up players all the time,' said Bampton, now in his 22nd season with St Jacques.

'A lot are young players, but they are also re-stimulating interest in older players who used to turn up to play, but you would not see them at training. Now, they are having to play to get into the side and that makes training more worthwhile.

'When you have got coaches of the quality that we have it helps as well. I found it difficult to play and coach - it was difficult to concentrate on my game as well as thinking about others,' he added.

With the amount of players who have been turning up regularly for training in the nine weeks of pre-season, it became apparent that using one coach was simply not viable any more.

Bampton pointed out that along with de Jersey and Grant, the senior players in the squad were also contributing to the sessions, passing on their experience and knowledge to the younger ones.

They have a good foundation which to build on and the aim is to improve on the last campaign.

'We had a successful season last year in the JRA League. We won some games and some were very close against very good opposition - those are the games we are looking to turn into wins this year,' Bampton said.

'The McMillan Cup win was very pleasing. It was a convincing win against a tough Jersey Vets side and we scored all our tries through the backs, which was our game plan.

'We now want to improve on last year. We want to try and be more street-wise and aware during the games, be able to adapt and change our style of play. We are looking to spread the ball wide and develop the phases in our rugby.'

A recent friendly against Guernsey Vets pointed to some deficiencies in defence but, according to the skipper, St Jacques looked exciting and dangerous when they spread the ball out wide.

However, the squad know that they have to continue to work hard to compete in the JRA League.

'All the other teams are good - it is very difficult to pick a winner. Last year there were some quite surprising results where the team expected to win lost quite convincingly. Any one can win on their day.

'It will be very difficult to predict the league. A lot of the time it depends on what new players teams have got. Very few stand still as different people come to the islands to work.

'It certainly benefits the club to play in the competition and one of the main reasons we can is the sponsorship from Islands Insurance because the cost of several trips to Jersey really builds up.'