RNRU Royal Navy Rugby Union

The Royal Navy Senior Women took on Hampshire Ladies at home under the lights of Burnaby Road, in their second game on the road to IS 2022.

On a cold but clear Wednesday evening, Hampshire came out determined to set their mark. With quick hands to the left wing they scored the opening try in the left-hand corner just 5 minutes in, catching the slow starting Navy team on the back foot. Building momentum Hampshire continued to look to spread the ball out wide but with the Navy's effective drift defence and a try saving tackle made by Josie Parnaby the Navy gained much needed breathing space and a chance to get their heads into the game. Strong winds at Burnaby Road made kicking difficult for Captain Sam Alderson and Hampshire was quickly back on the attack, although the Navy defence worked hard to hold Hampshire on the half way line. Hampshire looked dominant in the scrum, making it difficult for a clean ball but once out, the Navy utilised their quick ball attack seeing them finally compete in the Hampshire 22 for the first time. Despite looking like a try was promising the pressure was too much resulting in a knock on and turnover. 

Changes made by the coaching team, saw Jessica Bryan come into the number 8 position giving the Navy much needed strength in the scrum. This time the Navy began to find their attacking momentum and started to build pressure, with supporting offloads and quick hands down the line to see them once again in a point scoring position. With half time looming the Navy played the ball out wide, but Hampshire defence proved too strong leading to Susan Badger being taken out over the sideline. Hampshire led 0-20 at half time.

The second half began much like the first had finished with the Navy finally on the front foot, winger Josie Parnaby showed her quick acceleration of pace on the left wing beating a number of opposition players before scoring the Navy's first try of the evening. Using the wind to their advantage the Navy bombarded the visitors defence with high kicks causing most of the play to be in Hampshire's half. From a penalty scrum, Bryant broke away and made a strong 20m run down the right wing surrounding by supporting players. A further penalty for the Navy, saw skipper Alderson kicking for touch, followed by a successful lineout and placing the Navy just 5m from the try line. With poor discipline from Hampshire, and quick thinking from Megan Musgrave the Navy finally crept over for their second try of the evening bringing the score line to 10-20 with only 15 minutes left to play. 

The final 15 minutes was played at a quick pace and although the Navy advanced into Hampshire 22 multiple times, the fantastic spirit wasn’t enough to secure any more points on the board. Final Score Hampshire 25 – Navy 10