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Skydivers dramatically dropping balls onto the stadium below in a rush of smoke to kickstart the 2019 Siam Cup, which saw Jersey reclaim the men's trophy.
There were four games in total this weekend taking place at the Stade Santander International.
First up was the Nash Cup, with Jersey veterans, The Wanderers, beating Guernsey by 24-15.
Video: Rugby balls were delivered by three skydivers at the Siam Cup match.
The women’s game followed, with a hard-fought contest that saw Guernsey retain their title, with a Jersey 5-22 Guernsey win for the Sarnians.
The Fallaize Cup was next with Jersey Red Athletic hosting Guernsey’s 2nds. That ended in a 20-17 win for Jersey.
Then came the main event: the Siam Cup, with the ball parachuted into Stade Santander adding to the spectacle and anticipation of the game.
Pictured: The teams line up before the 2019 Siam Cup.
Kick-off was frantic, as both teams battled to find an opening. Hard hits, quick hands and nerves were evident on both sides, bringing some ever-so-close moments for both teams.
20 minutes in and there was still no score, while the wind played its part in the kicking game as Jersey fought to take advantage, pinning Guernsey back. But the Raiders equalled it with some wonderful clearances from their own 22.
Then, against the run of play, the Raiders scored the first points of the match with the conversion then missed (Jersey 0-5 Guernsey).
Jersey then showed a touch of class from 10: Aaron Penberthy. A wonderfully weighted cross field kick high was plucked out of the air by replacement Simon Johnson. High first touch of the game, expertly taken and scored in the corner (Jersey 7-5 Guernsey).
The Fallaize was the closest game of all, with the Reds producing some stern late defence to keep out the green tide and emerge 20-17 winners... Rich Chapman pic.twitter.com/jBFWZKJj8N
— Jersey Reds (@jerseyrfc) May 11, 2019
Jersey then built momentum and the seized the game by the scruff the neck. They started working the ball well in midfield, with slick work in the centre by Eastwell and Ma’afu punishing Guernsey creating holes in the defence.
Unexpectedly, a breakthrough came from the Captain, Nick Selway, playing his last game for Jersey. With some nice footwork, he offloaded to a charging George Willmott, who found scrum half Liam Rhoads for the score (Jersey 14-5 Guernsey).
At half-time, Jersey were in the lead (Jersey 17-5 Guernsey), but the second half saw a change in wind direction with Guernsey fighting back to 17-12.
With 20 minutes to go, Jersey came out on top after some back and forth from both teams. The Raiders continued to fight back though and in the final 15 minutes, the Sarnians were looking to press their main advantage.
What transpired was a war of attrition between the Raiders’ attack and Reds’ defence. There was wave after wave of attack for the Raiders, each being held up over the line countless times.
With 8 minutes of injury time to play, the supporters started celebrating early – something brought home by a fourth try in the dying minutes for the Reds (Jersey 29-12 Guernsey).
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