Curtain closes on 2015 Royal Navy womens rugby with an inspirational grass roots tag tournament
Women’s rugby in 2015 closed out with a grass roots tag rugby tournament held at HMS COLLINGWOOD, inspiring the next generation of women’s rugby players in the service. Organised and run by the Royal Navy Community Rugby Coach (East) Dave Wakefield, endorsed by the RNRU(W) ADoR LtCdr Lynne Martin and supported by RNRU(W) players, grass roots rugby has been rolled out at HMS COLLINGWOOD and HMS SULTAN over the first half of the 2015/16 season. The aim being to inspire, grow and identify new female rugby players in order to grow the sport within the RN.
The Women’s Tag Rugby Tournament consisted of 5 teams from HMS COLLINGWOOD (fielded 2 teams), HMS SULTAN, Royal Marine School of Music and HMNB PORTSMOUTH in a round robin format so that each team played the others once. The standard of rugby had improved greatly from the training sessions and all the teams showed an eagerness to play a flowing style of rugby. The team from HMS SULTAN were by far the most consistent team, winning all their games and scoring 18 tries and conceding only 1, with the Royal Marine School of Music coming a close second.
The tournament showed that there is a place for women in rugby no matter what their ability and that it can be a fun way to exercise even if you don’t want to transition to the full contact game. However, it clearly sparked an interest with many who, with the help of current RNRU(W) players are looking at taking up the full contact version in the New Year. The RNRU(W) ADoR commented,
“This has been a huge leap forward in developing the future of RN Women’s Rugby and I am very grateful to Dave Wakefield for making it happen. The cadre of service women playing the sport is small but growing and I look forward to not only tracking the progress of those interested in the full contact version of the game but the progress of grass roots women’s rugby. I have said before the sport is on the up and 2016 is looking very exciting for RN Women’s Rugby”.
Article written by LtCdr David Martin RN - RNRU(W) Comms
Images Royal Navy Rugby Union/ © Dave Wakefield