RNRU Royal Navy Rugby Union

The Roger Sherratt Trophy is awarded to the member of the Royal Navy Women’s Rugby Union Squad who is deemed to be the most valuable player of the season.  This player will have shown strong leadership qualities both on and off the field, have provided a positive influence on the Squad and have displayed the attitude and bearing that epitomises the values of the Royal Navy Women’s Rugby Union Team.  It is therefore rare that a player wins it in the same year that she wins her first cap, making Pippa Hutchinson’s achievements this season all the more remarkable.

In winning the award Pippa becomes the first front row forward recipient of the most prestigious trophy for Royal Navy female rugby players.  On the field, she has repeatedly put in strong displays whilst off the field she has established herself as a key member of the tight knit Women’s squad. 

After a difficult Inter Services campaign Roger Sherratt, whose name the trophy bares, would have appreciated more than most the continued challenges that face the women’s game in the Royal Navy.  Having been their first benefactor he was shrewd enough to look behind the score lines and would have understood the progress that continues to be made.  He would also have endorsed Pippa as a worthy winner of the trophy who, as a young player with a vibrant personality, has the sassy qualities needed to keep driving the women’s game forward both on and off the field.

Congratulations to Pippa Hutchinson the 2016 Roger Sherratt Memorial Trophy winner.  A full list of all the previous winners of the Royal Navy Rugby Union’s Roger Sherratt Memorial Trophy can be found by clicking here.

Images by Alligin Photography / © Geraint Ashton Jones, © Andy Bonner, © John Walton & © Lee Crabb