Having won their opening two fixtures against Portsmouth and Dorchester respectively the Royal Navy Women’s team lined up to face Plymouth Albion Ladies in their third preparation game for the Inter Service competition in April. The cold and miserable conditions in the South of Devon made for a difficult night for both teams, coupled with the continuous drizzle, it impacted the flow of the game. However both teams laid it all on the line to compete in what was an entertaining game of women’s rugby.
The first half was swinging like a pendulum, with the first 20 minutes belonging to Albion as they camped themselves deeply in the Navy 22....
The Royal Navy Senior XV continued their march towards the Inter-Service campaign travelling to Cambridge University Rugby Club on Wednesday. The Light Blues, who had been successful at Twickenham against their varsity rivals, Oxford, were definitely up for the challenge in what was their final game of the season. Having been defeated by both the British Army and the Royal Air Force, the students bolstered their squad by fielding 13 of the 15 players that had earned their Blue at Twickenham in December. Cambridge started brightly from the kick off and exerted early dominance inside the Royal Navy 10 metre line. Under pressure in defence the Royal Navy worked hard howev...
The Mariners needed a fillip after they were unable to close out the game against the stalwarts of Devonport Services the previous week. The performance against Torpoint RFC exceeded expectations particularly as the coaches were willing to risk cohesion and continuity by rotating the squad to try out different combinations.
Mariners’ team captain, Stan Mortensen, when asked what the team took from the match, said, “I think we can take confidence in our progress from the previous game especially in our defensive systems. There are always things that we can work on but looking forward to the next game we are in a strong position. Also, with the amount of new play...
Their first match of the season wasn't perhaps quite the success the Royal Navy Senior XV were looking for but there were certainly plenty of lessons to be learnt following the match against the Oxford Blues at Iffley Road. Travelling to Oxford only a few days after the start of their training camp, they came up short against the youth and cohesiveness of the Blues squad, going down 22 - 17, but it was an exciting match to watch and all players got a run out.
It was a cold, crisp evening with the home side wearing their traditional dark blue strip so the Navy team turned out in white shirts for the occasion. Starting strongly, Jon Humphrey put the first points in the board...
The Royal Navy Women faced up to their second opponents of the season, Portsmouth Ladies RFC, on Wednesday evening at HMS Collingwood. Due to the lack of a fully qualified RN front row the game was played with uncontested scrums from the off. The delayed kick off didn’t seem to affect the RN Women and they started extremely brightly, reclaimed the ball from the off and began with some pleasing phases of play. They stretched their opponents and began exerting their dominance, maintaining control of the ball and built up the pressure. A deft cross field kick by the RN outside half, from open play, almost saw the RN on the score sheet h...
