Loose forwards pave the way to big win

THE Isle of Wight stand between Guernsey and the Hampshire League One title. An emphatic 54-5 victory over Farnborough in their last away game of the season has set up the Sarnians for a rousing finale in front of their own fans on Saturday 17 April.

As the scoreline suggests, it was a high-quailty performance from Guernsey.

'We were pretty happy with it, we just stuck to the basics and moved the ball a lot wider than we have done for a long time,' said captain Carl Johnson.

Winger Andy Bailey and hooker Paul Thomas both scored a hat-trick for Guernsey while fly-half Stuart Lloyd-Jones added two tries to an early penalty kick as, once again, the platform was laid by an impressive performance from the pack.

'The scrummaging and mauling were awesome and we had a lot of possession. All the loose forwards were excellent,' Johnson said.

'Matt Morgan did not play because he had to go back to Wales and so Jim Regnard was back at number eight and he was outstanding.

'Dave Willis was back and he was also awesome. He makes a difference to the backs because of the speed he gets to the breakdown. He gives us the confidence to try more extravagant moves because if it goes wrong, we know he is there to clean it up.'

Morgan should be back for the final league fixture, which comes just a week before the Siam Cup match.

Johnson admitted that he would not expect many changes between the side that plays against the Isle of Wight and that which meets Jersey, although the strategy could be slightly different.

'In the league we are allowed only three reserves, one of which has to be a front rower and one has to cover the backs, so it leaves you very few options.

'In the Siam there are six reserves so we will be expecting to use quite a lot of players as impact players and not just as cover,' said Johnson.