RNRU Royal Navy Rugby Union

This match was played between two neighbouring ships as they both conducted maintenance in Plymouth.  The second foray for HMS Scott's 15 saw them face tough opposition in the form of HMS Argyll.  The first half belonged to Scott.  From the kick off, Scott's forwards went after the ball with a passion, which led to an early turnover in the opposition half.  After 6 minutes of play, and several pick and goes by the forwards, quick hands from the backs saw the ball spun out wide to Ryan Davies who dived over the line in the corner to start the scoring for the day.  Conversion missed the score stood 5 - 0 to the survey ship.

After the reset, Scott's team resumed playing at the same pace.  The combination of fast play and quick hands soon led to the next try for Scott, coming from Connor White, who, after some great footwork, ran uncontested over the try line to score.  The conversion kick fell wide of the posts, the score stood at 10 - 0.

The next try also went to Scott when a kick came from across field and landed in the hands of Peter Fowler who then proceeded to take on 3 Argyll players and cross the line in spectacular fashion.  An easy conversion by Jake Whittlesea added another 7 points to Scott's score, 17 - 0.  Argyll had been putting up a good defence, when a grubber kick, put through their line by Whittlesea, was chased and won by George Alldridge who then side-stepped his way past Argyll's full back to place down the fourth try for Scott, 22 - 0.

Scott's final points of the half came when a penalty was given away by Argyll for not releasing the ball on the ground, just outside their 22.  The choice to kick for goal was made and Whittlesea slotted the ball between the posts to make the score 25 - 0.

Just before half time, a breakdown just outside the Scott 22 was fiercely contested, until Josh Leary dived through the ruck, capturing the ball but ultimately playing it on the floor, earning the prop a well-deserved yellow card and ten minutes on the side line.  Down to 14 men, Scott put up a good defence, but a succession of drives by the Argyll forwards saw their first try go over minutes later, followed by a successful conversion by the Argyll fly half, putting the opposition on the scoreboard at 25 - 7 going into half time.

The second half was far more matched than the first with Argyll coming together as a team and scoring 2 tries in comparison to Scott's 3.  The first try of the second half came from some good passing and pace from Argyll who used their one man advantage to score and converted their try to close the gap 25 - 12.

Scott were quick to retaliate.  The next try came very quickly after the restart.  After some great play by both the forwards and the backs Fowler picked up the ball and, after knocking a couple of Argyll players down, ran over the line for the try.  Another Whittlesea conversion stretched Scott's lead 32 - 12.

For the bulk of the second half, play was focused around the centreline of the pitch with both teams putting in good runs, only to be held back and countered by the opposing team.  During this slug-fest, Callum Sandeman finished off a great attacking movement by Scott to give the team their penultimate try, 37 - 12.

With 8 minutes left to play, Scott were pressing again in the Argyll 22.  Quick hands from the backs once more gave White a chance to turn on the gas, almost tickling the whitewash.  He stopped 5 metres from the line with a pulled hamstring but managed to hobble over for Scott's final try of the match, the score now standing at 42 - 12.

After a near stalemate within Scott's 10 metre line, with the last play having been called by the referee, a penalty was given to Argyll.  They used this opportunity to take a scrum and broke through Scott's defensive line to score the final try of the game.  With 2 points gained by a conversion, the final score was 42 - 19 to HMS Scott.

A great match played in great spirits by both teams, both sets of players should be equally proud of their performances.

HMS Scott Team: Rich Wakeman, Steven Pritchard, Josh Leary, Mark Titherington, Dale Plumpton, Aaron Milne, Guy Milne, Peter Fowler, George Alldridge, Jake Whittlesea, Connor White, Callum Sandeman, Ryan Davies, Josh Wilkinson, Alex Kubara (c), James Mason, Dan Stow, Tom Hardman

Words by Rich Wakeman
Images by RNRU © Rich Wakeman