Marine Nationale 24 v 3 Royal Navy Senior XV
The second match of the day would see a Royal Navy Senior XV take on the Marine Nationale, still smarting from last year's loss to the Navy in Plymouth. In front of an 8000+ crowd in the Stade Mayol, the fixture known as ‘Le Crunch' would be played out.
The officials were to play a big part in this fixture and made their present felt after 3 minutes with the sin-binning of an RN player for what many saw as a legitimate tackle. The subsequent penalty was missed by the Marine Nationale No 10, unlike his later attempts that were on target.
As always, this fixture lived up to its billing as a physical contest and it was no...
Whilst much of the Royal Navy is enjoying the Easter break, the Royal Navy Senior XV and Women travelled to France to renew traditional rivalries against an old foe. This clash of adversaries spans over 2 centuries from Nelsonian times when the British Navy won its historic victory at Trafalgar, to just eight years ago when the inaugural fixture between the Royal Navy and la Marine Nationale was raised at Kneller Hall, a game that saw the Royal Navy victorious by 20 points to 5.
Last year the Marine Nationale travelled to Plymouth and in one of the most entertaining games in the recent history of the fixture, the Royal Navy ran out eventual winners 17-10.
Although the Navy leads th...
The Royal Navy Medical Services (RNMS) RFC kicked off their season with an inaugural match against US Portsmouth select XV. The game swung like a pendulum; considering it was the first time the RNMS team had played together all season, and had only had a couple of hours of light training in the blistering Portsmouth sunshine in the afternoon before kick-off, it produced some excellent running rugby and at times, some tenacious defence.
This game was being used by the RNMS as a training game before the big match against the Army Medical Services on the 27 Apr 12. It was agreed by both sides to use rolling subs and play 4 x 20 min periods.
The game started well for the RNMS...
The Royal Navy returned after many years to one of the most famous grounds in the country, Bath RFC, ‘The Rec'. The Navy coming off of a dominant performance over the Irish Defence Forces, took on a Bath United team that had several players who had experienced Premiership rugby this season.
The skies threatened rain all day which eventually arrived just before kick-off which was to cause difficulties for both sides during the evening.
From the kick-off Bath attacked with some strong running from the back row, and good support and off-loading in the tackle kept the Navy pinned in its own 22m. After 11 minutes of pressure Bath found a hole to score the first converted try of th...
