Jersey Rugby Club's head coach Ben Harvey has outlined his ambitions for a second team at the club.

Travel expenses mean that second-team games are difficult to arrange, leading to a lack of match practice for the younger members of Jersey's squad.

Harvey told BBC Jersey: "We are determined to make sure we can get second-team rugby.

"The difficulty is completely financial, as it costs several thousand pounds just to play one away fixture."

He added: "It is a big ask for young players to step straight into league rugby, and we should really be playing 20-25 second-team games a year."

We've got to believe in ourselves and if we do that then we'll do well. Ben Harvey

Having been promoted from National League Three London and South East last season, Jersey are again challenging at the top end of the table, this time in National Two South, where they are currently second.

"It's been a great year really, especially with the promotion," Harvey continued.

"We did manage to blood a lot of young players and bring them through so the average of at the moment is 23.

"We just hope that we can continue to do that if we can continue to progress through the leagues."

With just five points separating Jersey form National Two South leaders Ealing, another push at promotion is in Harvey's sights.

"We've got a terrific squad of players, they work hard and they're now finding how hard they can work and discovering that promotion is on the cards.,

"We've got to believe in ourselves and if we do that then we'll do well."

Jersey are next in action on Saturday, 8 January at home against Canterbury.

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