Guernsey Press

August date set for Siam

SIAM CUP matches are set to bookend the 2021-22 season.

Published
Last updated
The Guernsey Raiders and Jersey Reds sides line up at Stade Santander ahead of the last Siam Cup match played in May 2019. (Picture by Martin Gray, 29200942)

Guernsey Raiders and Jersey Reds have announced that they are aiming to play the rescheduled Centenary Siam Cup – postponed from May 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic – at Footes Lane on Saturday 28 August.

The alternate end-of-season double-header is also back on track and once the league fixtures have been released, it is expected that the two islands will agree dates for two further Siam Cup fixtures to be played in May 2022, with each club hosting one event during the month.

The Siam Cup, Ladies’ Siam, Fallaize Cup (for men’s second teams) and Nash Cup (veterans) games will take place each time.

‘We are really pleased, obviously, because we want to ensure the Siam Cup gets played,’ said Raiders director of rugby Jordan Reynolds.

‘Originally, the May 2021 double-header was set up after the directive from the RFU about looking to start the [2020-21] season in January, but with the situation everyone was in [due to the pandemic] we started discussions with Jersey about what we could do at the back end of last year and we came up with the idea that this would be the best way to do it.

‘It basically gets us back onto the same cycle again with no Siams missed, which is hugely important for both clubs.’

From a coaching point of view, Reynolds is intrigued to find out how an August Siam will play out.

‘Usually it is at the end of the season and the last one in 2019, which seems a long time ago now, came after our first National Two campaign and was the 33rd game we had played that season – our guys were extremely fatigued and out on their feet,’ he said.

‘An August Siam creates a pre-season that’s really exciting because we will be building towards it and it offers something a little bit different so we will be preparing differently.

‘The Siam Cup is massive for both clubs and while you do not want a whole pre-season to revolve just around a Siam, you just know that it will have the same emphasis as any other Siam.’

The boards of both Raiders and Reds are delighted to have three big inter-club occasions pencilled in for the 2021-22 season.

‘After such an unsettling time over the past year, it is fantastic for our players, coaches, members, volunteers and sponsors to have a date to look forward to in August,’ said Andrea Harris, joint chair of Raiders.

‘The Siam Cup has always been a hard-fought and keenly contested affair across all matches.

‘We are excited to host the postponed centenary match in front of what we expect to be a packed Garenne Stand at Footes Lane and put on a show for our spectators.’

Jersey Reds Chairman Mark Morgan added: ‘I am delighted our two clubs have been able to line-up three spectacles for the coming season.

‘Not only will this be great for both sets of supporters, but it will also provide much-needed revenues after both clubs have been hit by the withdrawal of funding from the RFU.’