Ark Royal in 7's Heaven while Sultan Count to 10

This afternoon in the spring sunshine LPT Carly Allon of HMS SULTAN hosted the RNRU Ladies 7's tournament which saw teams from HM Ships ARK ROYAL & LIVERPOOL and Establishment teams from Heron, Sultan and Collingwood compete. In a hard fought contest HMS Ark Royal continued their rich vein of form in the 7's discipline using the tournament as preparation for their forthcoming trip to the Kiel 7's Tournament which will take place in June. Played in a league format the tournament was won by HMS Ark Royal with HMS Collingwood the Runners Up. CPO Dusty Miller the Rugby Development Officer said ' It has been a fantastic opportunity for those players new to the sport to get a couple of games under their belt; having some of the current crop of Navy Representative Players playing alongside them in this grass roots competition is an inspiration to them' Meanwhile over in Burnaby Road the RNRU 10's Finals were in full swing. Teams from HMS ARK ROYAL, Sultan, Neptune, BRNC and Drake travelled from all over the country to compete for a place in the RAF Akriotiri 10's 25th anniversary competition. There was some electrifying games, NA Mika Mua representing HMS ARK ROYAL showing why he is so highly regarded within the representative area. HMS Sultan, with LPT Danny Johnson showing some sublime skills, fought their way through a very tough tournament to win the league by virtue of the fact they scored more tries than the Runner's Up HMS ARK ROYAL. The RNRU Chairman, CDRE Rob Thompson presented the awards and thanked LPT Chris Peden for organising and running the Tournament. The 10's competition has identified the four teams, Sultan, Ark Royal, BRNC & Drake, who will now go forward and represent the Royal Navy Rugby Union at the Akrotiri 10's Tournament held during May. Each team will receive a £500 grant to assist with the organisation and travel costs courtesy of the RNRU. 'This competition was devised in order to encourage greater participation of rugby without the requirement for specialist positions' said CPO Dusty Miller ' The incentive of representing the Royal Navy in Cyprus is a fantastic way of putting something back into the Community Game. It also provides our Referees with an opportunity of gaining greater experience through Service Rugby'.