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Jersey add six backs including Olowofela and a Russian club centre
By Liam Heagney
Jersey Reds have further ramped up preparations for the new 2021/22 Championship by announcing the signing of a half-dozen backs, adding to the confirmation earlier this week that they had snapped up ex-Sale prop James Flynn and back row pair Alex Humfrey and Wesley White, a son of the 2007 Springboks World Cup-winning coach Jake.
Scrum-halves James Mitchell, Harry Simmons and Will Lane have now been added to the Jersey squad by the Championship club's director of rugby Harvey Biljon, along with centre Jordan Holgate and wingers Ryan Olowofela and Will Brown.
Mitchell, a brother of current England call-up Alex, joins from Doncaster following previous stints at Northampton and Connacht, and ex-England age-grade player Simmons has arrived on a season-long loan from Leicester Tigers.
Lane, the third scrum-half who had been with Worcester academy and Loughborough, now becomes an official part of the squad after spending some time last season with the Reds.
An intriguing recruit is Holgate. Having been with the Bulls academy and Boland in his native South Africa, he spent a year at Western Force before playing in recent times for Slava Moscow, the club whose home ground was the venue for Jersey's eye-catching win over Russia prior to the 2019 World Cup.
Ex-England 7s winger Olowofela joins after two years at Northampton where he played alongside twin brother Jordan. He was among a quartet of players released by the Saints on May 26. Former Scotland U19s cap Brown comes in from Ampthill after a previous stint at Loughborough.
The Channel Islands club, who last month hosted the British and Irish Lions for a training camp at their Stade Santander International ground, finished mid-table in last year's Championship with five wins from ten matches and will open preparations for the new season with visits from Leicester and Sale for friendlies on August 27 and September 3.
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Latest Comments
They've done better than a lot of recent retired greats who forced themselvse on the ABs by staying too long.
Leaving now is the last think you can criticise these players for.
Hopefully that's the case for Havili as well. Really need the like's of McCleod to step up at the Crusaders. Lakai has the same position. Hopefully he can just get 30min to empty his tank so he doesn't run dry like he did last week. Perofeta is next in line but theres so much competition now, esp with Tele'a returning.
Go to commentsWhat you say is true, but it's a new coach with a different structure and cohesiveness takes time. To be honest, despite the losses, the AB's looked more dangerous this year and more exciting.
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