Blue Light Beaten by Navy Might

In almost perfect weather conditions, the RN Senior Men’s team took the field for their next step towards defending their Inter Services Crown. Their opponents for this fixture were the British Police at the magnificent Sixways Stadium, home of the Worcester Warriors. The conditions, along with the excellent 5G surface allowed both teams the freedom to express themselves. The police team had already suffered losses to both the Army and RAF this season and the Navy team were keen to make sure it was a hat trick of wins for the Armed Forces.

It took the Navy nearly 15 minutes of both possession and field position before they broke the Police rear guard defence for the first time. A patient, bordering on relentless period of build-up play was finished off by Will Scott who powered over for the night’s first try. Jake Hanley added the extras. More pressure and almost constant possession saw the lead doubled a few minutes later. It was started by a great kick chase from Captain on the night, Ben Chambers, who won the aerial battle for the ball. His team mates then showed some great handling skills to give him the chance to get back into position to receive the final pass to score. A great team try with moments of individual skill, topped off with a second conversion from Hanley.

With the territory stats going through the roof for the Navy, a third try was added on the half hour mark, which ironically began with a good steal from the Police side as they stripped the ball off an RN runner. However, they were a little clumsy with the first pass and a fumble allowed No.8 Chris Mills the chance to gather the loose ball to score.

It took until the final minute of the half for the Police to get into the RN 22 for the first time as they tried to batter their way over for the score. But the RN’s enthusiasm for attack was matched by their enthusiasm to defend their line and they not only stopped the score but managed to strip the ball and clear just before the whistle sounded.

HT British Police 0 - 19 RN

It was ‘as you were’ at the start of the second half as 10 more minutes of Navy pressure and possession resulted in the team’s 4^th try, scored by Ratu Vakalutukali, who had come off the bench at halftime. Another conversion by Jake Hanley saw the Navy starting to pull away on the scoreboard.

The Police side didn’t buckle however and were soon able to open their account. A series of infringements by the Navy side saw a kick to the corner and a great catch and drive from the men in red to score, dotted down by replacement Finn Barnes. With the conversion landed the Police were back in it.

Not to be outdone, the Navy pack seemed to take that score as a personal insult and at their next opportunity took a line out 20m from the Police line and absolutely steamrollered the opposition to almost sprint the catch and drive over the line, with Declan Johnson the scorer.

The enthusiasm for the big hits got a little too carried away for the referees liking though and repeated penalties against the Navy saw then shown a yellow card. The police capitalised on the one man advantage a short time later and worked the ball out to the left wing who crossed the line and made his way closer to the posts for the easier conversion.

There then followed a period of frustration for the Navy as they worked their way into potential try scoring positions only to fall foul of the officials and give the Police the chance to clear. They did manage to curb that frustration with a couple of minutes left on the clock and after a scrappy bit of play from both sides they moved the ball to George Wacokecoke to score, with Hanley converting. The last laugh however was had by the British Police who scored and converted with the last play of the game to end what was a very entertaining match to watch.

FT British Police 21 - 38 RN

Director of Rugby, Lt Cdr Tom Blackburn was generally pleased with the performance, but with some work-ons before they take on Hartpury in two weeks, “A good first half performance, especially from the pack and the backs did very well using turn over ball. A bit of a frustrating second half although the scrum went very well. We will work on our defence of both driving lineouts and pick and go plays and bring in more of the multiphase attacks we started the game with.” 

Senior Men: Tam Lindsay, Alex O'Brien, Ben Watson; Ed Pascoe, Will Scott; Harrison Utton-Smith, Ben Mallett (VC), Chris Mills; Dan Rutter, Jake Hanley, Jack Davis, Jack Bartlett, Harry Mayes, Ben Chambers (C), Craig Duncan.

Replacements: Jack Wright, Kye Beasley, Dom Cleverley, Dec Johnson, Ratu Vakalutukali, Will Riglesford, George Wacokecoke, Ben Raivalitia.

Words by Paul Clark

Images by Max Ross