Harvey Biljon: Jersey Reds head coach lauds character in Leicester loss

New signing Ben Woollett scored one of Jersey's four tries against Leicester on his club debut

Jersey Reds head coach Harvey Biljon praised the character of his team after they were beaten 35-26 by Premiership champions Leicester in their first pre-season friendly.

Four first-half tries saw the Tigers race into a 28-5 lead over the hosts.

But debutants Ben Woollett and James Hadfield and captain Lewis Wynne scored after the break as Jersey fought back.

"A huge amount of character and resilience was shown by all the players," Biljon told BBC Radio Jersey.

"Although it's game one, there's headaches already for the coaches.

"I think we've got to go away and look at some key moments but certain characters have showed, particularly the resilience of our forward pack. We lost [lock] Hamish Bain in the warm-up and we know we're down on second rows - we didn't have any on the field at the end.

"But the way the players were problem solving was pretty important. I also think the understanding from the group of what we're trying to achieve on the field is pretty important and you can see that coming through."

'Magic moments'

The match, held at Jersey's Stade Santander International, was the first pre-season friendly for both teams.

Jersey will face two more Premiership sides in further warm-up fixtures over the coming weeks, hosting London Irish on 27 August and Bath on 2 September.

Biljon said the result provided a platform for his team to build on ahead of the new Championship season starting next month, with their first game at Ampthill on 10 September.

"It's a happy camp, they're working hard but we've a long way to go," he added.

"We can't get too excited but what an absolute privilege it was to host the Premiership champions here in Jersey and I think we will definitely take a huge amount out of it and I think they will too.

"It puts us in a great position going into the season. We're definitely going to be tested each week and it's going to be tough again next week with London Irish a team definitely on the up in the Premiership.

"I think right now we'll continue to focus on our overall game plan, make sure there's that continuous understanding of where we need to be. We will find our magic moments if we stick to that."