Sharks Target Aldershot on Armed Forces Day
The Royal Navy Sharks head to Aldershot, the home of Army Rugby, on Armed Forces Day for the final round of the Super7s Series hoping to build on their excellent form in the previous round.
The final round will see the Navy enter it with confidence after the Round 3 highs and lows which included the Navy tying with the Army, qualifying for the cup knockout stages for the first time this season but then falling to a heavy defeat to the eventual winners
The 3rd round of the Super 7s Series took them to Stafford where they would take on some well established 7s teams and the age-old enemy: the British Army. The first leg saw the Sharks up against the Wooden Spoon Marauders, the Sharks came out the block flying and dominated the match running in 8 tries and only conceding 1, final score 50 – 5, next up the British Army.
The battle of the services currently stood at 1 win a piece, this was the bragging right for the summer and a win was a must for both teams. The Sharks attacked first and took an early lead but the Sharks were reduced to 6 men who stood firm against the Army attack for the majority of the 2 minutes sin bin conceding 1 try. The second half saw the teams battle hard for possession to earn the win. When the Army were reduced to 6 the Navy capitalised bringing the score to 17 all.
The Navy were on the verge of making history by qualifying for the knockout stages for the first time and only a win against the Barracudas would secure this. The battle between the 2 teams was ferocious with both teams knowing what was at stake. Despite going behind the calming words from their head coach reinvigorated the Sharks who stalked their prey before unleashing a ferocious strike, taking the game to the Barracudas! A final flourish was enough for the Sharks to win the match 22 – 17.
The reward for their pool stage heroics was a match up against Scimitar Storm, one of the heavy hitters in the 7s series. The match was played at a phenomenal pace and saw Scimitar Storm dominated the Sharks with their power, pace and experience. Despite their best efforts the Sharks fell to a 40-7 loss.
The Navy Sharks have come a long way again in this series, taking the fight to the British Army and reaching the cup quarter finals for the first time. In his final team talk of the round Head Coach LH ‘B’ Buinimasi said, “I have never been so proud of each and every single one of you, this is the hardest matches we have ever played, and you have all played to the best of your ability”.
