Royal Navy v Royal New Zealand Navy CNRC 2012
The Royal Navy Senior XV starts the defence of the Commonwealth Cup 2012 on Sun 7 Oct with a difficult fixture against the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN). RNZN have already dispatched the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) by a score of 13-41, sending a clear message of their intention to wrestle the Cup from the present holders the Royal Navy.
The fixture between the Kiwi's and the Royal Navy has always been a close fought affair with the RNRU holding the upper hand on results during the last 5 meetings (4 -1).
DoR Cdr (Andy) Kellett RN said of the selection ‘It was always going to be difficult call when selecting from a pool of very talented players'. He went on to say ‘We have selected a well-balanced starting 15 and a bench that is loaded with impact players, this should lead to a very exciting game on Sunday'
The last time some of the players who are starting today met the Kiwis was in 2009 in Plymouth as part of the RNRU Presidents Select XV. Almost 3 years to the day Mne (Josh) Terry (RM Poole) will be anchor the scrum, as he did then with CPO (Ewan) Cowie (HMS Sultan). Josh also won the Man of the Match award for his performance that day. Whilst CPO (‘Sumo') Thompson (HMS Sultan) will hope to get an opportunity to reacquaint himself with the Kiwi's if he comes off the bench.
Josh Terry Ewan Cowie
The Kiwi's will remember the 2009 game for the strong running of Sgt (Gaz) Evans (HMS President), the lineout work and open field running ability of POAET (Marsh) Cormack (RNAS Culdrose) and an U23 at the time and now an established Senior XV player ET(ME) (Dale) Sleeman (HMS Ocean). Added to this trio of Navy Rugby stalwarts is scrum half and Capt POAET (Dave) Pascoe (RNAS Culdrose). Dave racked up 3 penalties in the 2009 16-10 victory for the RNRU.
Gaz Evans Marsh Cormack
Dale Sleeman Dave Pascoe
Royal Marines and brothers Sgt (Loz) Blackburn (RM Poole) and Mne (Josh) Blackburn (CTCRM) hope to follow-on from a successful RN Sharks and Corps season. Loz starts on the right wing and Josh will be eager to show the selectors his true potential, if he comes off of the bench.
Loz Blackburn Josh Blackburn
Head Coach CPO (Ash) Coates said of the squad ‘Bringing together a touring party is always going to be a voyage of discovery. We have some well-established Senior XV players and a good representation from the U23s and RN Sharks. Ash said of the training, ‘Over the past week they have become a ‘tight knit' group who work hard for each other, both on and off the field'
RNRU SENIOR XV v ROYAL NEW ZEALAND NAVY
COMMONWEALTH NAVIES RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP 2012
.watermark { background-image: url('../upload_images/cnrc_sydney_logo.png'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-position: center; } .watermark tr td { border-bottom: 0; }
| Prop | Hooker | Prop | ||
 Mne J Terry RM Poole |
 Lt E Gaught RN HMS Somerset |
 CPO E Cowie* RNAS Culdrose |
||
| 2nd Row | 2nd Row | |||
|
|
 Capt S McLaren RM* RAF Halton |
|||
| No 6 | No 8 | No 7 | ||
 Mne S Puleston 30 Cdo RM |
 Sgt G Evans* HMS President |
 Mne S Raumakita* 42 Cdo RM |
||
Scrum Half |
||||
 POAET D Pascoe* RNAS Culdrose (Capt) |
||||
Fly Half |
||||
 Mne N Huntley* 42 Cdo RM |
||||
| Centre | Centre | |||
 ET(ME) D Sleeman* HMS Ocean |
 AB(WS) T Davies HMS Illustrious |
|||
| Wing | Full Back | Wing | ||
 Mne G Welling RMASC |
 AET J Humphreys* RNAS Yeovilton |
 Sgt L Blackburn RM Poole |
||
| Replacements | ||||
| 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
 Capt C McArdle RM HMS Ocean |
 AET K Beasley* RNAS Culdrose |
 AB(WS) C Davies HMS Somerset |
 CPO C Thompson HMS Sultan |
 Cpl T Holliday 6 Ops Sqn RM |
| 21 | 22 | |||
 LAET J Clay HMS Sultan |
 Mne J Blackburn CTCRM |
|||
POAET M Cormack* RNAS Culdrose *Denotes Capped Player