Jarvis on board to fire Rams’ push for promotion

AMBITIOUS Redingensians Rams have signalled their bold intent by tempting former Harlequins, London Irish and Bristol fly-half Adrian Jarvis out of retirement to spearhead their promotion push from National Two South.

Jarvis, who is director of rugby at Queen Elizabeth’s Hospital School in Bristol, has joined the Berkshire outfit as player-coach and is expected to make his debut in this Saturday’s home game against Clifton.

The 33-year-old’s arrival represents a major coup for Redingensians, who have risen through the leagues in recent years to challenge local rivals Henley and Chinnor.

Rams chief executive Gary Reynolds told “We’ve built a reputation for having a formidable forward unit and we hope Adrian will be a good influence on our backs and put some real spice into our attack.

“We get nervous about who comes into the squad because it’s a happy camp, but Adrian’s such a good guy and that won’t be an issue. If you get a good player in who’s also looking to make his way in coaching, it’s a dream combination.

“We’ve got a good young No.10 in Tom Humberstone and some exciting Colts who will get the chance to work alongside a top expro, so I’m excited to see him play.”

Fourth-placed Rams are promotion outsiders this season, but Reynolds believes they are closing the gap on the top sides.

He said: “Chinnor, Cinderford and Taunton are a bit better than us at the moment and you have to give them respect for that.

“We’ve areas to improve before we’re genuinely competing with these teams, but we’re down to narrow margins now and we’ll get a chance to test our progress when we play them again in the second half of the season.

“Improving on last season’s sixth place is our target and we’re still on a learning curve, but we want to make a promotion push next season. Adrian’s arrival gives us an opportunity to build and we’ll be looking to get the job done.”