Rugby has certainly returned to Britain and this week sees the UK Armed Forces turn their attention to international rivalries.
The UK Armed Forces women’s rugby team will be in action against their French counterparts on Wednesday the 29th September at the home of Royal Navy Rugby, Burnaby Road Portsmouth. ‘Le Crunch’ will be the first match for the representative side since 2018 and the Royal Navy contingent of the squad includes Olivia Critchley-Peddle, Rose Dixon and coach Charlotte ‘Freddie’ Fredrickson.
As the excitement for the match builds we are shining the spotlight on the Royal Navy women who will be doing their best to send the French bac...
It was a first away match of the season and the first match under lights for the Royal Navy U23s as they took on a Solent Select XV on Wednesday 15th September.
The Navy young guns made the trip along the A27 to Oakland’s Park, home of Chichester RFC. The club from West Sussex’s county town made up the bulk of the Solent Select XV and were selected by former Royal Navy Coach Scott Ashley.
It was hoped that the second outing of the season would provide Assisstant Director of Rugby Owen Salmon the opportunity to check the depth of his squad and to see if any future stars emerged from the most recent training camp. Within moments of the match starting the Solent team ...
The Royal Navy Under 23 side kicked off their 2021 season on 5th September as the first representative side to take to the Burnaby Road pitch since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The reigning Inter Service Champions, who were crowned in 2019, were taking on the best that the Hampshire RFU could muster from it’s academy cohort and the match was certainly a close affair. Under a hot September sun there was very little to separate the two sides who had agreed to play an adapted 3 periods of 30 minutes .
Ultimately a last minute try and conversion for the county side was enough to win the game 28-21. But the Under 23 coaching staff were happy with the ...
PIRATES OUTGUN ROYAL NAVY
In a long-anticipated return to rugby, a newly formed RN Senior XV side took on the Cornish Pirates at The Mennaye in Penzance. With only 2 weeks to go until their first league game in the Championship, the Pirates proved tough opponents for a Navy side that had only been together for a few days. The warm and dry conditions promised a game of expansive and exciting rugby and it was the Pirates who ultimately won an impressive 8 try victory over the Navy.
The Pirates scored first through flanker Matt Bollwell, shortly after an initially successful Navy lineout was turned over inside their own half. Almost immediately after the restart...
