Raiders’ efforts earn big reward

Both Guernsey and Rochford Hundred have been promoted from London & South-East Premier after the RFU calculated final standings for the men’s and women’s community game on a best playing record formula, with the season having been brought to a premature end by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Raiders coach Jordan Reynolds, who was planning on muted celebrations of ‘a glass of wine’ with members of his household last night, was pleased that his squad’s efforts had been rewarded.

‘We have got to be really proud of the effort we put in this season,’ he said.

‘It’s nice in these current times that there is some good news to share around.’

However, Reynolds admitted that it was ‘bitter sweet’ that Rochford were being declared league champions despite Raiders being top of the table when play was suspended.

‘Obviously our goal was to finish first and to not get that is disappointing for us, but, in saying that, it was out of our control.

‘It would have been a really tough decision for the RFU to make.

‘With Ireland, Wales, Scotland and France all voiding their seasons, I thought there was a good chance ours would be too, but the RFU march to their own beat and, having played 85% of the season, it made some sense for it to come to a conclusion.

‘I think they have taken into consideration that a huge amount of effort had already gone into the season.

‘You are not going to please everybody and there are going to be some teams who go down because of this and I empathise with them.

‘But I know a lot of our boys are pretty happy to hear this news after a tough season, so generally we are really pleased to be going back up.

‘We cannot celebrate together at the moment given the circumstances, which is unfortunate, but hopefully in time we will meet up and it will be great to celebrate the achievement with our supporters, sponsors and volunteers.’

Raiders chairman Charles McHugh added: ‘It’s come as a bit of a shock really but with all that is going on it is gratifying for all the season’s hard work. It is a feeling of muted celebration.’

The RFU president Peter Wheeler issued a statement yesterday to explain the reasoning behind this move throughout the leagues below the Premiership.

‘We believe that the decisions made provide fair and balanced outcomes for the game and maintain the integrity of the competitions. We have listened to recommendations from the heart of the game and the approach has been ratified by the RFU Council,’ he said.

‘This has been a difficult decision to make in the most unprecedented of circumstances. There is no single solution that will suit every club, but the approach taken is one that we believe best reflects the nature of league rugby in England.

‘With 80% of the season complete for the community game, we believe our approach is fair and the right one for our leagues. We have clubs that are clear league leaders and worthy of promotion, but also other clubs who have said they would benefit from relegation, to play more meaningful rugby.’

Reynolds can now look to the future and prepare for Guernsey’s second foray into National Two after their solitary previous season at that level in the 2018-19 campaign was marred by injury problems and ended in relegation.

‘What’s good is that we can start planning. It gives us a bit more guidance on what we can do and it also gives the guys a huge amount of rest before returning to National two.

‘We learnt a lot of lessons when we went up to that level two years ago. Despite the injuries we had, it was such a valuable season for us and you have seen the difference it made in how we have played this season – we have utilised those lessons and put it into our game plans.

‘I think that will make a huge difference for us going into the 2020-21 term.’

The Guernsey head coach expects the vast majority of his promotion-winning squad to form the core of his National Two group and he hopes to persuade a couple of those who might be considering stepping aside to give him one more year.

‘I’m pretty pleased with the squad I have at the moment, we perhaps just need to bulk up a few different positions,’ Reynolds said.

‘Playing 30 games in a season is really tiresome on a squad and having a bit more rotation in certain positions will be pretty vital for us.’