Victory in Russia ‘shows quality of Championship’
JERSEY head coach Harvey Biljon has made a renewed call for fresh investment in the Championship after his side pulled off a 35-22 win against World Cup-bound Russia in Moscow.
While wins for a club side against a country are not unknown – Newcastle achieved the feat against Georgia and Tonga before the 2015 World Cup – for a Championship side to travel halfway across the world at short notice and deliver such a high level of performance deserves enormous credit.
“Tuesday’s win supported the fact that there must be some rugby going on in the Championship if we are beating teams that are going to a World Cup and are ranked 20th in the world,” Biljon, below, said. “I am so proud of the players.
“In the week we spoke about three things: one was representing our rugby club, the second was representing the Island and the third was representing the Championship.
“We wanted people to realise the quality of rugby that is played and the calibre of players that can be found in the Championship because I think it sometimes gets questioned.” This week Championship clubs rejected the chance to forego automatic promotion for a half-a-million pound rise in funding from Premiership Rugby.
At just over £40,000 per club, this doesn’t amount to much and Biljon clearly feels the league’s worth is under-valued.
“You’ve got two professional leagues in the Premiership and the Championship and while I don’t think they should be funded equivalently I think more invested in us is warranted because of the amount we’re doing.
“If we get it right, the Premiership and English rugby will feel the benefit, it’s that knock-on effect.”
While confidence levels are sky high at the club following their red-letter day in Moscow, Biljon insists repeating last season’s topfour Championship finish will be a tall order.
“We’ve got some big guns in the Championship this season.
“The four or five that stand out to me right now are Newcastle, Ealing, Coventry, Pirates and Bedford, and that’s without mentioning teams like Doncaster.
“They have recruited wisely both in coaching and playing, with people like Bodes (forwards coach Steve Boden) and players like Pete Lucock and Jack Roberts. It’s a very tough league.”