RNRU Royal Navy Rugby Union

Last night at Sandy Park, the home of the Exeter Chiefs, the Royal Navy U23’s side embarked on their final warm up match before their 2022 Inter Services campaign kicks off against the RAF at Havant RFC on 23rd November. It was a final chance to impress against an Exeter Outreach u23’s side made up from talented young players from local rugby clubs. On a perfect night for rugby under the floodlights at the always immaculate Sandy Park, the two teams took to the field in front of an impressive crowd. 

The Exeter side wasted no time from kick off and in just the second minute won a penalty which they kicked to the corner. It was then like watching the Chiefs in their prime as a catch and drive resulted in the first try of the match. The conversion from wide out was expertly taken and Exe took a very early 7-0 lead. 

However, the early score did not deter the RN team who then went professionally about their business and were soon on the attack themselves. Some great handling around the halfway line resulted in a perfectly timed and weighted kick through which gave the RN left wing, Jack Davis, the opportunity to show his pace and beat his opposite man to the ball and score a fantastic try. The conversion was narrowly missed to leave the score 7-5 after just five minutes. 

Those early tries turned out to be the only scoring moments of the first half but that doesn’t tell the whole picture. The RN forward pack exerted their dominance in both the scrum and lineout which allowed the back three of Prentice, Elliot and Davis to probe the edges on a number of occasions. The RN also dominated both possession and territory but could not turn those stats into points. A few handling errors from both sides meant the teams went into the halftime break with the Outreach team with their noses in front 7-5. 

The Exeter side made a number of changes to their pack at the break, and they began the second half as they did the first with a kick to the corner after three minutes. The ensuing line out led to a few close in carries and they went over despite an excellent defensive effort from the RN pack. Another successful conversion from the Outreach no. 10 gave his team a 14-5 lead. 

The RN team began to get on the wrong side of the referee and gave away several penalties for high or ‘seatbelt’ tackles. A mixture of kicking for the corner, strong forward drives and some impressive handling resulted in three more tries, two of which were converted, for the Devonian team and at the 62-minute mark the score was 33-5. 

However, the RN team stuck to their task with the back row duo of Charlie Davis and AJ Hussell and centre Ryan Scott carrying and tackling their hearts out. This endeavour led to the RN forcing Outreach into a mistake in their own half, the ball was moved to George Prentice who beat a couple of defenders to dot down for a try which his team's efforts deserved. The conversion was successfully slotted by Scott to leave the score 33-12 on 65 minutes. 

Some barnstorming runs from the RN hooker Jack Wright, including a 30–40 meter canter down the right wing were not quite enough for the Navy to add to their score and the final try went to the men in white after some sustained pressure and multi-phase play five minutes from time. With the conversion missed the final score was 38-12 to the Outreach 23’s. 

Despite the score line, the RN coaching team will have been encouraged by many elements of their team’s performance but will also have a few work on’s as they move towards the Inter Services in a few weeks. 

 RN u23s: Cleverley (C), J Wright, H Wright; Watson (VC), Paterson; C Davis, Cann, Hussel; Angliss, Manson, J Davis, Scott, Prentice, Penrose-Toms, Freddie Elliot