Rugby union is a popular sport in Jersey.

Governing body

Rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

is played in Jersey under the auspices of the Jersey Rugby Association (JRA), which is affiliated to the

Hampshire Rugby Football Union Hampshire Rugby Football Union is the governing body for rugby union in the county of Hampshire, England. It represent clubs sides not just from Hampshire but also from the Isle of Wight and the Channel Islands, who take part in many of the comp ...

but is not a member of the Rugby Football Union of England. As such, it has no national team of its own, and is not affiliated to

World Rugby World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...

in its own right. For this reason, it has no WR ranking.

History

Due to its proximity to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and the major rugby nation of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, Jersey rugby is amongst the oldest in the world, dating back to the mid 19th century. Most schools play the sport, especially the private ones. There are several rugby union clubs in the island including a rugby academy for under-18s that includes more than 600 players as of April 2012 and Les Quennevais Rugby Club.

Jersey Reds Jersey Reds is a rugby club based in Jersey, Channel Islands that currently competes at the RFU Championship, which is the second tier of English professional rugby. Until season 2022/23, the professional arm of Jersey Reds was part of Jers ...

are a Jersey rugby club that enjoyed a meteoric rise through the English pyramid from 2005, when they were playing in London South West Division 3 (now known as

London 2 South West London 2 South West is an English level 7 Rugby Union League. When this division began in 1987 it was known as London 3 South West, changing to its current name ahead of the 2009–10 season. The division is made up of teams predominantly fro ...

), to 2012. They earned

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

at the end of that season, and then starting in 2007–08 earned four more in five seasons. The most recent promotion, at the end of the 2011–12 season, placed them in the second-tier

RFU Championship The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men’s English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when ...

, where they have played ever since. The Siam Cup is an annual

Rugby Union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

competition held between

and Guernsey RFC. It was first contested in 1920. The trophy awarded its winner is the second oldest rugby honour contested after the

Calcutta Cup The Calcutta Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the rugby match between England and Scotland played annually in the Six Nations Championship. Like the match itself (England–Scotland), the Calcutta Cup is the oldest trophy contested be ...

. Like many small islands, Jersey has a population problem. The main sport is football, and the national population is just over 90,000. As yet, Jersey has not fielded a national team.

JRA League

The Jersey Rugby Association (JRA) League features the following teams: * Beeches * Guernsey RFC 2nd XV *

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the l ...

3rd XV * Jersey United Banks * Les Quennevais * St Jacques * The Panthers

Broadcast media

Jersey has no television of its own but does have its own radio station. However, British and French television can both be received on the island, and often include extensive rugby coverage - such as the

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

and Six Nations Championship. The ITV variant

Channel Television ITV Channel Television, previously Channel Television, is a British television station which has served as the ITV contractor for the Channel Islands since 1962. It is based in Jersey and broadcasts regional programme for insertion into the ...

sometimes includes rugby news.

BBC Radio Jersey BBC Radio Jersey (Jèrriais: ''BBC Radio Jèrri'') is the BBC's local radio station serving the Bailiwick of Jersey. It broadcasts on FM, AM, DAB+, Freeview and via BBC Sounds from studios on Parade Road in Saint Helier. Like other BBC enter ...

has live commentary of every Jersey Rugby Club home game as well as live inserts from every away game.

Notable Jersey players

Fraser Waters Fraser Henry Hamilton Waters (born 31 March 1976 in Cape Town) is an English former rugby union footballer who played at Centre for clubs including London Wasps and Treviso. Biography Waters grew up in Cape Town before moving, aged 11, with hi ...

, born

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, and has played for England, attended St. Michael's Preparatory School on Jersey. *

Matt Banahan Matthew Andrew Banahan (born 30 December 1986) is a former rugby union player who played for Bath and Gloucester in Premiership Rugby, between 2006 and 2021. Born in Jersey, he played 20 times for but capped 16 times between 2009 and 2011. His ...

* Alison Christie was the first Jersey born player to represent one of the British Isles nations,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, from 1994-2004. She has also represented the Classic Lionesses team twice, once in the 2003 Bermuda Classics and once in Murrayfield Stadium in 2007. *

Matthew Cook Matthew Cook (born February 7, 1970) is a mathematician and computer scientist who is best known for having proved Stephen Wolfram's conjecture that the Rule 110 cellular automaton is Turing-complete. Biography Cook was born in Morgantown, West ...

Jersey born Spanish international. * Michael Le Bourgeois, the first Jersey born player to sign a professional contract with Jersey RFC.

References

External links

Guernsey vs Jersey

Jersey Reds

BBC's Jersey sports page
{{Rugby union in Europe Sport in Jersey