Mne Aaron Moon, who has previously represented the Navy U23s at fly half, begins his journey along the road of rehabilitation when he joins Headley Court next week with one clear goal; to once more play in the famous Navy Blue shirt. The young marine is lucky to be alive after the Viking he was in took a direct blast from an IED during his recent tour of duty in Afghanistan. Having sustained multiple injuries and following initial emergency care in theatre and then intensive care at Selly Oak, Aaron is now looking to rebuild his life and Royal Marine career. It quickly becomes evident when talking to Aaron what a determined young man he is and it is humbling listening to him recount his ...
England's very own 'Prop Idol' Jason Leonard OBE, was in Portsmouth this week as HMS Temeraire hosted the Finals of Hampshire Rugby's Prop Idol Competition. This competition has been running for the past three years with the Royal Navy playing a pivitol role in the organisiation of the finals on each occasion. London Irish Coach Neil Hatley, assisted by the RFU Front Row Mentors gave 20 children a warm up and a technical coaching session prior to the main event. The competition is designed to see if players have the skillset to become a verstaile front row player whilst allowing the coaches to receive vital instruction on the technical and safety aspects of scrummaging. Winners and Runne...
What started out as a bet between PO(AWW) Guest and LS(CIS) Moore over a number of beers in the Cape Verde Islands became a reality, when on Thu 19 March 09, 40 sailors from HMS MANCHESTER came together to play a charity Rugby Match in front of over 150 spectators from the Ship’s Company. The game was played to raise money for the Ship’s affiliated charities, St Ann’s Hospice and Redwood Park School. With a ‘three line whip’ for those not on watch as spectators, sponsoring took place for each player and betting was organised on the first try, Man of the Match, first sin bin and first red card. Luckily, for the referee, LPT Lou Clarke, the cards stayed in her...
The evening of Wednesday 18th February 2009, saw RN Scotland RFC compete against Glasgow Hawks development 15 in a fixture that would honour the name of former Royal Navy Rugby Union player – Mne Craig Hodgkinson. Craig suddenly passed away in 2006 whilst representing the Royal Navy Rugby Union in a fixture. After his death, his parents John and Di Hodgkinson set up a memorial trust in his name with the aim of providing a life-saving Heart Start machine to every Rugby Club in Scotland. A fun-filled evening of events began with displays by Royal Marines and Royal Navy Recruiting Teams, who were on hand all evening to provide advice for prospective joiners to the services and fun fil...
The historic links between Malta and the Royal Navy go back to the 1800s. Many know of the strategic important role that Malta played particularly in World War II. However the Navy has also employed a significant number of Maltese sailors from those earliest ties. Recently Navy rugby has had within its ranks two Maltese rugby internationals in Jamie Caruana (RNAS Culdrose) and Kyle Mason (RNAS Yeovilton). The next three weeks are going to prove very busy for Kyle as the 2009 Inter Services coincides with two very important World Cup qualifying matches for Malta. On Saturday 18th Kyle will travel with the Malta squad to Riga where the islanders will be looking to continue their winning ru...
