RNRU Royal Navy Rugby Union

After three and a half years in the Gulf, Indian Ocean and Red Sea, HMS Montrose has finally been relieved and is set to arrive back in the UK for Christmas. The Ship, which left the UK late in 2018 has been operating from Bahrain since April 2019. Since 2020, Montrose has seized over 16 tonnes of illegal narcotics over the course of 10 raids, denying criminal and terrorist groups at least £80m street value.

Commanding Officer Commander Claire Thompson said: "Drugs busts and interceptions really allow the ship to show what she is capable of – whether you are part of the boarding teams, an engineer, a chef, it almost doesn’t matter because everyone plays their part and everyone is filled with pride."

...and the CO was not talking about rugby interceptions but she could have been because for HMS Montrose's last sporting hurrah, players took to the immaculate surroundings of Bahrain RFC to throw a ball around for one final time.

During HMS Montrose’s last visit to Bahrain as the forward deployed T23, a touch rugby fixture was arranged against Bahrain RFC. UKNSF and UKMCC players were also involved, and a collective team proceeded to Bahrain RFC to play against a team that consisted mainly of their vets team [AKA the Golden Oldies], with a few younger guest players also involved.

In true ships' rugby fashion, the team threw a ball around for 5 minutes before a quick brief from the local referee was conducted to explain the rules that would be followed. 5 x 15min periods were agreed as the playing time. Without further ado, the game began, with a mixed team going out to face the hosts, Bahrain RFC.

Given that few of the players had played together before, the Montrose team started well and scored two early tries with some slick handling and space well exploited. Things continued to go well for the Montrose team, with further scores added. After 60 mins of play, the score was 25-0 to Montrose. The local referee decided it was time to mix the teams up, with personnel swapping sides to form an almost Barbarians match off for the last period. Some good rugby continued to be played until the end, with Bahrain RFC scoring (through a Montrose player) with the last play of the evening.

Montrose, UKNSF and UKMCC players would like to extend their thanks to Bahrain RFC for the opportunity to play and for their hospitality on the evening. A further thank you is also extended to Lt Cdr Jane West (RNRU Director of Community Rugby) for coordinating BFBS media coverage and for providing refreshments after the game.

POET(WE) Dan Thurgood

Images by BFBS/ Dave Roberst