A small piece of history may be made on Saturday when the Navy take on the Army at Twickenham. The day of rugby starts at 09:00 at Staines RFC with the finals of the RFU Emerging Schools tournament. The event, which must be one of the most successful youth rugby tournaments in the world, includes Bay House School, Gosport. If Bay House win through to the finals that will give the opportunity for Jacob Burns to play at Twickenham only minutes before dad Si takes to the field with the Navy team. It can not be often that a father and son have played at Twickenham on the same day. Best wishes from Navy Rugby to them both. The full RFU press release for the competition reads as follows: Emerg...
The RNRURS sent a strong team to Newbury RFC on Wednesday to cover the officiating duties for this years Inter-Services matches between the RAF and the Army. The society Chairman, Stew Kilby, led the team of four for the Ladies match which turned out to be a fairly one sided match with the Army putting 56 points past the RAF. The RAF girls had an ideal chance to get their first ever points against the Army, when Stew awarded a penalty well within their kicking capabilities, but unfortunately, the kick was scuffed and the RAF stayed at nil-points. Tim Bailey had the privilege of overseeing the Veterans match, which turned out to be the match of the day. The RAF Vultures looked strong at t...
Having played the beautiful game for many years, what could be easier than taking on the role of the ‘man in the middle!’ Well, where shall I start….. Having completed the foundation referee course in September last year I awaited my first game with great anticipation. The first thing to strike me was the shortage of service games; when I was a lad we used to play every Saturday AND Wednesday, whereas nowadays you are lucky if there is a game once a month. I must have been lucky though because for my very first game I was appointed a friendly between HMS Cornwall and HMS Montrose at Plymouth. Before arriving I had a 90-minute drive and during this time I mulled over al...
Gosport and Fareham’s youth triumphed over the Services experience in the Soapy Watson Memorial game. Bright sunshine and a good crowd saw both sides line up for a minute’s ovation to our absent friend. It appeared Soapy was looking down on the match as no sooner had the whistle blown for the Kick off then the heavens’ opened treating the players to a 20 minute downpour of rain and hail. Gosport took advantage of this and scored an early try, which Kev Ayres converted. (5-0) Services vintage midfield of Pocklington, Blackett and Sheldon combined well to set pocket rocket Penfold free down the right wing, despite some sustained pressure Services failed to score. Gosport ...
The President of the Royal Navy Rugby Union, Rear Admiral Neil Morisetti, hosted the annual dinner in honour of the Union’s Life Members and Vice Presidents at the Royal Marine’s Museum, Eastney last night. For the first time the dinner was held on the eve of an Inter Service match and all were naturally looking forward to the three games the following day culminating in the Royal Navy taking on the Royal Air Force. At the dinner the President welcomed former Navy Chairman, Cdre Tim Harris RN (Retd) to his first function as the Union’s newest Life Member and also Rear Admiral’s Richard Ibbotson and Phil Jones as new Vice Presidents of the Union. Another first for ...
