RNRU Royal Navy Rugby Union

As Christmas fast approaches, we enter the festive period having achieved a significant amount in a short space of time. The U23s had a hugely successful Inter Services winning the competition outright while beating the Army by a record margin along the way. We’ve seen a number of players selected for their national teams both in Sevens and XVs and we celebrate the 6 Navy Players who represented UKAF (W) in New Zealand. We’ve also seen Ships, Establishments and Commands take the field notably with HMS ALBION taking on Tunisia u20s and Montenegro President’s XV during her deployment. Additionally, at the recent Navy Sports Awards, we saw three exceptional members of t...

LPT Ben Priddey joined the Royal Navy in 2006 as a Naval Airman. First serving at RNAS CULDROSE (HMS Seahawk) and embarked in HMS OCEAN and RFA ARGUS, he realised his ambition to join the Physical Training specialisation in 2016. Following his initial assignment to CULDROSE, he deployed in HMS MONTROSE with tours to the Middle East on Op KIPION. He has since returned to Cornwall to continue his PTI career at RNAS CULDROSE. First representing the Royal Navy Rugby Union in 2007, LPT Priddey became the second most capped player of all time in 2022 when he gained his 34th Senior Men’s cap in a closely contested defeat to the Army at Twickenham. A free-scoring hooker, he remains t...

“This opportunity, the natural next step for me, is a culmination of the past decade where I have coached at Ship and Command level and two representative teams. My recent experience as part of the Commonwealth Cup coaching setup will provide a seamless transition and has demonstrated that my philosophy for rugby, and how it is played, is in line with the team ethos.” A hearty congratulations to Lt Cdr Andy Vance who having led the Royal Navy u23s to Inter Services success has been selected as the backs coach for the Senior XV for the 22/23 season. Andy is a highly motivated coach with over a decade of experience. He started his coaching journey during his last two play...

The Royal Navy u23s inflicted one of the heaviest defeats on the Army, in this fixture’s history, to win this year’s Inter Services Championship. The Senior Service has sent a message, loud and clear, that this generation of rugby players are the future.  Scoring 7 tries on a night where visibility was so poor that marine sound signals would not have been out of place, the u23s were intent from the outset to play in the face of their opponents, attacking the space and defending with grim determination. They performed for the crowd, but they played for each other. They destroyed the Army in their own backyard; it was sublime. The team had to cope with a late change ...