The teams from the Fleet Air Arm and Royal Navy Western Region met in the final of the 2017/18 Inverdale Challenge competition, playing at Burnaby Road, in front of John Inverdale, the son of the Surgeon Captain in whose memory the completion is named. Final score Fleet Air Arm 29 - RN West 7 Starting as they meant to go on the Fleet Air Arm team in green and blue opened the scoring in the first five minutes of the game. The ball was caught from the line out and a strong driving maul resulted in the ball being driven over the line, Royal Navy Rugby Union Senior XV team captain Ben Priddey, claiming the try. Greg Lloydall stepped up for the conversion to make the score 7 - 0 ...
This Wednesday sees the final of the 2017-18 Inverdale Challenge competition to be played at United Service Sports Ground, Portsmouth. And for the first time in many years the team representing RN West are through to the final and are hoping they can win the trophy, last held by the Plymouth region in the 2004-2005 season. Petty Officer Physical Trainer Sam Sims has been playing the long game. Since becoming the RN Western Region team manager in 2015 he has seen a steady improvement in the fortunes of his team. Having been involved in Navy Rugby since his Leading Physical Trainer assignments in HMS Argyll and HMS Somerset Sam has built a great network of Navy Rugby pla...
On an evening that was better suited to kite-surfing ducks (strong winds and plenty of rain), the inaugural game of the Mariners' 2018 season produced some sublime open rugby despite the adverse conditions, and notched up the first of hopefully many wins for the Royal Navy Rugby Union Veterans!
The Mariners 25-man squad, a good mix of seasoned players and 'new' blood, took to the field against a strong Devonport Services RFC team and although the early stages favoured the locals, the Mariners showed tremendous fight, rapidly forming in to a cohesive unit and playing with the confidence of a weekend club team. With a solid and front-footed defence holding back several powerful surges ...
In freezing cold conditions and following changes of venue due to problems with the floodlights at HMS Collingwood and a water-logged pitch at Havant, the RNRU Women started their season at HMS Temeraire taking on Havant Ladies. With new head coach, Martyn Ruskin, and Assistant Director of Rugby, Paula Bennett-Smith, watching from the touchline, loyal supporters gathered to cheer on the team.
The Royal Navy Rugby Union Women’s knew they were facing some strong opposition - Havant Ladies are a hugely capable team currently unbeaten in the National Challenge 2 South League. Havant made an impressive start to the match mounting a strong attack on the Royal Navy and this dete...
As 2018 begins the Royal Navy Rugby Union are keen to recruit new members to their team of communications volunteers. An interest in and understanding of rugby is essential as well as good writing skills so if you fancy yourself as a potential sports journalist or would like to develop your written communications then this might be for you. The Royal Navy Rugby Union exists to enable Service men and women to take part in the great sport of Rugby. The Union supports 5 representative sides; the Senior XV, the Women, the Mariners (the Veterans), the Under 23s and a Sevens team, the Sharks, in addition to running a full programme of grass roots rugby and a varied programme of co...
