Jersey Rugby
As Jersey Rugby Club’s inaugural season in the English rugby league system fast approaches, the buzz around the side has continued to increase. Head coach Myles Landick has reinforcements joining the side for the journey in the shape of Evan Whitson and a slightly more familiar name in Roy Godfrey.
The latter has become part of the furniture within the Jersey Rugby Club, deciding to hang up his professional boots after five seasons and 103 caps for the Reds. The South African forward has also been instrumental in the coaching side within the academy, assisting with the Colts team last year alongside fellow Red Tim Grey.
Landick said: ‘Having Roy on board is excellent .‘He will definitely bring a lot of experience to the dressing room and I’m certain he will give the players a lift. ‘A lot of players step away from the professional game and don’t continue to play. Roy [Godfrey] has some great values and we are lucky to have him in the fold.’
The forward reinforcements were not done there though as hooker Whitson has also joined JRC. The Welshman has experience at Dragons Academy, Newport RFC and most recently Kowloon RFC in Hong Kong. Now 26, work brought Whitson to the Island, but the hunger for competitive rugby still burns deep.
‘Evan [Whitson] came over last year, just a few days before the Siam Cup in Guernsey,’ said Landick. ‘We were so impressed with his contribution. It’s not often we have a 100% throw rate from line-outs, but we did that game and that was a testament to his ability at two”.
‘We could see his physicality and leadership on display immediately and we are very excited about what he has to offer.’
The side met yesterday for the first time to train ahead of the new season, which kicks off on 20 August, with a pre-season home tussle against Oxford Quins – who play at level five.
Jersey Drone Trial to go ahead
Jersey will be used as a testbed for a £3.7 million drone project to help develop ‘game-changing’ unmanned aircraft technology. Flight trials are due to take place on the Island in March and May 2024 as part of the Agile Integrated Airspace System programme funded by the UK government.
It will test the safety of drone technology and assess if there is potential to use unmanned aircraft to improve the supply chain between Jersey and the UK and Europe – such as carrying medical equipment and commercial cargo.
Locations for the flight trials are yet to be decided, but the take-off and landing site is likely to be as close to the sea as possible to limit drone activity over land.
The drones, which have a two-metre wingspan and weigh between 10 and 20kg, will be flown over a dedicated test area to see if they comply with commands and instructions, operate safely if they lose contact with the operator, and comply with air traffic control procedures in the same way that a pilot would.
Technology start-up Volant Autonomy is working with Ports of Jersey, Digital Jersey and several other organisations on the scheme, with a public Q&A session due to being held in September at the Digital Jersey Hub.
Another heat record
JERSEY has recorded its hottest ever night – with temperatures not dropping below 27°C. The uncomfortable heat smashed the previous record night-time temperature of 22.3°C set on 5 August 2003. And it was 5°C above the average maximum daytime temperature for this time of year.
The record-breaking night came after Jersey sweltered in its hottest ever day, with the temperature peaking at 37.9°C – the equivalent of 100.2°F – shortly after 4pm. The previous record of 36°C was set in August 2003 and equalled in July 2019.
Fewer than 20% of schools were open as normal on Monday on what should have been the penultimate day of the summer term. A government spokesperson said around half of the 33 state schools had half-days yesterday, with nine schools closed and six others open.
Those pupils and staff who were present did their best to cool down – ice lollies were on the menu at St Mary’s, while Mont Nicolle staged its annual water fight and served up ice creams
Warnings that Islanders should adjust their routines appeared to have been heeded, according to a senior representative from Jersey Ambulance Service. Mr Hamon was among the paramedics working at Sunday’s Accuro Jersey Triathlon, when he said two competitors were treated for the effects of the heat, in addition to some ‘normal’ triathlon injuries.
The sea temperature was recorded as 18.3°C yesterday, compared with the average for the time of year of approximately 17°C. During 1989, the warmest year on record for sea temperature, the sea had reached 19°C by mid-July and eventually peaked at 20.7°C in early September.
Cooler weather arrived on Tuesday with temperatures back down to about 23°C by Wednesday.
When you wake up after a cool, refreshing night’s sleep… and discover that all the food in your fridge has now gone off!
No wet flannel, no cold shower, no number of ice cubes on the forehead and no electric fan could make the awful sweatfest that was Monday night bearable. A heatwave stops being fun when the temperature refuses to drop below 27°C during the small hours.
Mercifully it cooled off a bit the following day – but it’s going to get hot again at the weekend. Might be best just to sleep outside.
Mixed Markets
London’s FTSE 100 is up 0.24%.
European markets are higher today with shares in Germany leading the region. The DAX is up 0.34% while France’s CAC 40 is up 0.29%.
Futures tied to the Nasdaq 100 traded 0.5% lower today, while S&P 500 futures slipped 0.3%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dipped 23 points or 0.7%.
Asian markets finished mixed as of the most recent closing prices. The Nikkei 225 gained 0.40% and the Hang Seng rose 0.17%. The Shanghai Composite lost 0.06%.
Advisa Wealth Charity golf day
The Macmillan Jersey Charity golf day was held at La Moye Golf course last Friday and the Advisa Wealth sponsored day raised a magnificent £27,000 for the local charity.
27 teams of 4 took part in one of the biggest fields La Moye has seen in years and the weather was kind with temperatures cooling to around 24 degrees and with a light sea breeze conditions were perfect and the scoring was high.
The event was won by Ben Haymer and his team from Santander who graciously requested to auction off their prizes in order to donate the funds to their friend’s fundraising efforts to Macmillan as a result of his brother losing his fight against Cancer last year.
Advisa Director Trevor Griggs said ‘The Macmillan charity Golf day was another fantastic success in raising much needed funds for the charity. It has become an annual event and is the flagship of Advisa’s ‘Supporting the local community programme. ‘It was wonderfully supported by both businesses and private enthusiasts’.
He added, ‘when Jersey has the weather there is no finer place in the world where anyone would rather be, the views were stunning and we are so lucky to have such a fantastic facility. I would like to thank everyone at La Moye for helping to stage the event and of course to all the teams who generously gave their support to such a brilliant Charity’.