In naming his side for their annual clash with Jersey, Guernsey director of rugby Jordan Reynolds emphasised that he was pleased to have more resources at his disposal 12 months on from the 36-11 defeat at St Peter, even though it gave him much more of a selection headache.
‘It was definitely not easy. From a coach’s point of view, we probably went over it four or five, maybe even six or seven times, even in the last couple of get-togethers because there were so many combinations we had to think about, a couple of things fitness-wise and with having more subs available to us,’ he said.
‘It is never a nice feeling to have to leave people out, but we have to make these tough decisions and we believe we have selected a squad to get the job done on Saturday.
‘We have got guys on the bench who are regular starters, so it probably shows we are better off depth-wise than last season – I think there are 10 or 11 changes in all.’
The biggest difference to last year is the front-row options and being able to call upon the likes of former Jersey hooker Nick Selway and props Sam Steventon and Martinas Dromantas from the bench having started with a high-quality trio in debutant Joe Wrafter, Tom Ceillam and Charlie Currie allows the Raiders head coach to, as he described it, ‘keep that power on for 80 minutes, which might just be the difference in the game’.
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‘Last season [in the Siam] our set-piece became a real problem for us and they got on top. When we were over there, as soon as we lost those first couple of scrums, the heads were down,’ Reynolds said.
‘Obviously we’ve got a pretty strong scrum game this season and I think where we play at our best is when we’re a lot more relaxed on attack.
‘But in truth, I think it’s going to be a massive defensive effort from us, and we’ve done that repeatedly this year if we’ve had the right motivation.
‘Jersey are pretty simplistic in how they play, they just do it extremely well, we’ve just got to make sure we’re really, really physical on those sets, and I think our attack will just flow from there.
‘I haven’t seen a Siam Cup where both sides haven’t attacked well, so I think both sides will be gearing up for a big defensive effort.’
The backing of a vociferous crowd will also be key to that effort.
‘Having a home Siam Cup is amazing. You’ve got friends, family, people that are genuinely there to support you. It makes a huge difference,’ said Reynolds.
‘So whether it’s the first whistle of the game or it’s a couple of minutes to go in the game, it gives you that gives you that boost. I think home advantage is huge for us.’
TEAMS
Guernsey Raiders Ladies (2.30pm kick off)
Tiegan Batiste, Kayleigh Oliver (captain), Simone Sarchet, Macey Rushent, Zoe Collins, Yvie Coyde, Kristi Murphy, Marni De Freitas Alves, Emily Wright, Molly Farrell, Macy Ozard, Cara Fitzpatrick, India Healing, Ella Gidney, Daisy Travers. Replacements: Megija Krasovska, Tanya Scholtz, Alice Barber, Elle Murphy, Lara Snedden, Ness Brown.
Guernsey Raiders (4.15pm kick off)
Joe Wrafter, Tom Ceillam, Charlie Currie, Lewis Hillier, Charlie Wilkinson, Matt Creber, Dom Rice, Josh Poullet, Dale Rutledge, Charlie Simmonds, Matt Armstrong, John Dawe, Ciaran McGann, Anthony Armstrong, Tom Teasdale. Replacements: Nick Selway, Martinas Dromantas, Sam Steventon, Brad Webb, Michael Cantle, Ethan Smith, Callum Roberts.
