Reggae Warriors’ manager, Glenn Morrison has a 20-man squad in Perpignan, in preparation for tomorrow night’s historic international at the Stade Gilbert Brutus.
Included in his Jamaica squad is full-back, Ashton Golding, who played 18th man for his Leeds Rhinos side last weekend, when they won the Super League Grand Final. It will be the first time the two nations have met, and Les Tricolors will be using the clash as a warm up for their 2017 World Cup campaign, in a group that features hosts Australia, England and Lebanon.
The party landed in France last night after an 11-hour journey when an air traffic controllers’ strike in France delayed their departure from Manchester.
“It was a real strain on the players and management to be sitting around in the airport that long but the players exhibited extreme patience,” commented JRLA director of rugby, Romeo Monteith. “They are happy to be in France now, and ready to represent their country.
“The boys all know how big a challenge this will be for us. France are the sixth ranked nation while we are seventeenth. But we are here to continue to publicise our brand and show our ability, and we will be doing all we can to ensure that the French know they have been in a good game.”
Jamaica won their last international – in August against Canada – with 16 of their 17 players drawn from their domestic leagues. This time however, all 20 of the selected players are from the English professional leagues.
Jamaica squad: Omari Caro, Jonathan Magrin, Ross Peltier (Bradford Bulls); Alexander Brown, Daniel Thomas, Jode Sheriffe (Dewsbury Rams); Richard Barnett, Aaron Jones-Bishop (Doncaster); Jamel Goodall (Castleford Tigers); Baasit Agoro, Maliki Lloyd-Jones, Kadeem Williams (Gloucester All Golds); Ashton Golding (Leeds Rhinos); Jacob Ogden (London Broncos); Joseph Brown, Lamont Bryan, Jermaine Coleman, Jy-Mel Coleman (London Skolars); Joseph Brown (Newcastle); Keenen Tomlinson (Unattached).
Manager: Glenn Morrison
