Force was with Raiders

In front of thousands of fans enjoying both the rugby and the spring sunshine, the green-and-whites came up with the goods in brilliant, yet totally contrasting styles on Saturday.

The women’s contest was a real nail-biter with the lead changing hands on three occasion including with the final kick of the game as Chelsie Blondel held her nerve to slot over the penalty that earned a dramatic 17-15 victory.

‘I’m notoriously positive about everything, so I was like “Chelsie’s got this, Chelsie’s got this”. But I’m still shaking,’ said Guernsey Raiders Ladies captain Kayleigh Oliver. ‘We were all shaking, but yeah, I backed her.’

She added that teamwork was the key to her side’s success.

‘It’s easy to have some stand-out players on the team, but if you don’t all work together then it means nothing,’ Oliver said.

‘You need people there in support, and it’s not always the people who are making big breaks and scoring the tries that make the team who they are.

‘So it’s a game of not just 15, but the people on the bench, the supporters, the people who didn’t make the team this year.’

In the Siam Cup match, Raiders got off to a flying start, establishing a 21-point lead before Jersey got on the scoreboard and they never looked like being beaten after that as they regained the trophy with a 49-33 success.

Dom Rice, who played despite having torn his quad a fortnight ago, lifted the cup with co-captain Lewis Hillier.

‘Your body can be pretty broken, like mine was today, but you can warm up and always feel a little bit invincible – that’s just the energy and the emotion this day can kind of bring to people. You see it means a lot to community,’ Rice said.

‘It’s a pretty emotional day, that one meant a lot.

‘I’ve always wanted to [lift the Siam Cup] and to do it as co-captain alongside Lewis with this bunch of boys, it’s a special group.

‘I didn’t know whether I’d be playing, so to get kind of 60 minutes with the boys, it’s amazing and I’m pretty lost for words at the moment.’