Sam Leeming: Jersey Reds fly-half targeting 2021-22 season after cancer treatment

Former Bedford fly-half Sam Leeming completed his last round of chemotherapy on Christmas day

Jersey Reds hope fly-half Sam Leeming will recover from cancer in time for the start of the 2021-22 season.

The 23-year-old joined Jersey last summer but has yet to play a game, with Championship rugby halted in March last year because of the Covid-19.

He was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in September and has undergone six rounds of chemotherapy.

The club hope he will be cleared to return to the island in the spring to prepare for next season.

In his absence, the club have signed South African fly-half Bader Pretorius for the upcoming 2020-21 Championship campaign, which is due to start on 6 March.

The 23-year-old from Johannesburg has most recently played for the Southern Kings in the Pro14 and also had a spell at hometown club Golden Lions.

He is one of three new faces to move to Jersey ahead of the delayed Championship season, which will see the islanders play just three home games in an 11-match campaign as English rugby's second tier restarts more than a year being halted because of the pandemic.

The club has also brought in 21-year-old scrum-half Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti on loan from Premiership side Newcastle and 24-year-old former Cardiff Blues and RGC back-row Tim Grey.