PORTSMOUTH BEAT THE SCOTTISH CHILL!!
Having selected a strong team of 22, Portsmouth Command head coach took his squad north of the border to face Royal Navy Scotland in the first round of the Inter Command Championships on Wed 20 Oct 10.
Arriving in HM Naval Base Clyde twenty four hours prior to kick off allowed the squad to settle in and acclimatise to Scottish weather (it had been the coldest night of the year so far with temperatures dropping to -2°). A light training session on Tuesday evening shook off any pre-match worries and the team awoke on Wednesday morning to a gorgeous Scottish cold and clear day.
CPO Dane Smallbone (HMS Liverpool) led the Portsmouth team out at 1330 and play began. Portsmouth took a few minutes to settle and it was 19 minutes before AB Davies (HMS Liverpool) took advantage of a penalty in front of the posts to put Portsmouth on the score sheet. A break in the Scotland defence saw Logs Ratuloko (Type 23 Pool) score in the far right corner at 25 minutes, the same drill worked again 5 minutes later and one of these was converted by AB Davies.
The latter stages of the first half saw Portsmouth come into their own and the experience and discipline of the squad led them to another try scored by LET Lutu (HMS Dauntless), this was again converted by AB Davies.
Scotland certainly came back from the half time break fighting, but it was only ten minutes into the half when Logs Ratuloko scored his third and final try of the game, this time converted by Portsmouth Captain CPO Smallbone (HMS Liverpool).
A front row replacement for Portsmouth was used to Scotland's advantage and some good mauling allowed them to score and convert their first points of the game.
Some minor injuries for Portsmouth allowed for fresh legs on the park and LET Thompson (Collingwood) fought his way over the try line, this time converted by Logs Satala (Type 23 Pool). The dying minutes of the game saw Scotland drive through the Portsmouth defence to score their second try. Final score Scotland 13 Portsmouth 36.
A great start to the Championships by Portsmouth Command Rugby Union, who will now rest and recover and prepare to play Naval Air Command on 24 Nov in the Semi Finals at Burnaby Road.
The management would like to thank all Commanding Officers and Line Managers of Portsmouth units and establishments for their support in releasing players for this competition.