It gives me great pleasure to be writing this end of year message as the Chairman of Navy Rugby, a position I have held since the summer; the time has certainly flown by. Firstly I must thank everybody across the whole RNRU family who have contributed to the success of the past year. In particular, the volunteers who contribute so much and who without we would not function. There have been several changes in personnel throughout the year, all of which are part of the succession planning that is vital for our continued sustainability. Commander Chris Roberts was selected as the new Director of Rugby, to succeed Captain Roger Readwin post the Army Navy match this season. ...
The Royal Navy Rugby Union Women’s development side continued to progress with a decisive victory against the Hampshire Barbarians at HMS Temeraire. The Royal Navy Rugby Union Women’s Development team hosted a Hampshire Barbarians side on a cold December evening at HMS Temeraire. Due to the number of players available, this was a true community development match with the teams playing three 20 minute sessions in a fast paced evening of rugby. The game started with the Barbarians launching a sustained attack that the Royal Navy struggled to contain. Some early handling errors enabled the visitors to quickly establish a 10 point lead. The Navy quickly regrouped and were abl...
They say forwards decide who wins and backs by how many. The RN East pack were not only dominant in the tight, they scored their fair share of tries in a convincing victory over the RN West at the Rectory. The unofficial man of the match, RN East’s No8 AB (HM) John Kirwin, went over for a couple of tries as did 2 of their front row. The heavy weather played its part and both sides could have scored more points if handling errors had not been such a feature throughout the match. The early exchanges saw both teams with scoring opportunities however, it was RN East that capitalised on a mistake when RN West kicked a penalty long and the subsequent quick drop out, regain ...
After participating in the Royal Navy Rugby Union Under 23 squad for the past three years, Able Seaman (Seaman Specialist) Kai Allton was the stand out player who received the coveted award for the most valuable Under 23 player, the Brian Weeks Memorial trophy, at the end of the RNRU Under 23 season. Kai has delivered another committed performance to the RNRU Under 23s this season. Making himself available for every training session and match, Kai has been the training support group's first choice as prop throughout this season. Working hard to increase his fitness levels, he has regularly played the full 80 minutes of every match. His strong performance in the ...
The Royal Navy Rugby Union Women’s Development side produced an encouraging performance against an experienced Southampton team. The Royal Navy Rugby Union Women’s Development side travelled to Southampton to play their third match of the season. With several players having only picked up a rugby ball for the first time during a training camp held at HMS Collingwood that day, this was an excellent opportunity to introduce a new generation of players to Rugby. The game started with a fast-paced attack from Southampton, which the Navy Women were unable to defend against resulting in an early score of 5 - 0. Following the restart, the Navy took the game into the Southampton ha...
