A Minotour de Force

"The Women’s and Men’s teams stepped ashore from HMS Prince of Wales (PWLS) to kick off their first Op Highmast fixtures. Their hosts, the spirited Cretan Gunners RFC—founded in Chania in 2015—welcomed them with their trademark motto: ‘We have no manners!’"

HMS PWLS Women RFC travelled from their berth in Souda Bay to Andrea Papandreou [former Greek PM] 59, to play a friendly game of 10s touch against Cretan Gunners RFC. The women had several training sessions on the flight deck while deployed in preparation for the game and the games to come during OP Highmast. The team’s coach Tom Matanatabu has shown huge amounts of dedication and enthusiasm to fully prepare the girls for the big day. For many of the girls, it will be the first time playing rugby against an opposition. This was also the first time HMS PWLS Men and Women RFC would play against Cretan Gunners RFC.

When HMS PWLS Women RFC arrived to the venue, they were greeted with the news that Cretan Gunners RFC only had 7 available players. Due to their limiting number of players, it was arranged that the contest would be a friendly game of 7s touch resulting in more substitutes than first thought and meaning players could swap in and out as the game was played. There was a lot of support from Ship’s company who had travelled to support the women, which settled the nerves for many of the players.

The women were eager and quick off their line to start, with Cretan Gunners keeping hold of possession for the first few minutes. The Gunners managed to find a gap and scored out wide from several passes. This didn’t faze PWLS, as they knew mistakes would happen. They made sure to not let their heads drop. captain Katrina Miller led the team and worked very well with Olisha Carter: their communication was impeccable. A couple of mistakes led the ball being turned over and the Gunners took advantage and scored another try from out wide. There were a couple of breaks closer to the end of the first half from Jessica King and Tamzin Campbell, but PWLS just couldn’t get it over the try line. In the final minute, the hosts turned the ball over and scored a try from their own 22.

The whole team was substituted to allow all the women to have equal amounts of playing time. Lucy Honeybell showed her rugby experience by offloading under pressure. She linked very well with Molly Penny, her with the quick feet. However, the ball was intercepted, and the Gunners scored another easy try. Both teams showed a lot of passion for the game, as it started to become very hot headed. Crete ended the fixture with another try, as one of the women went in for the touch tackle and slipped at the vital moment.

The game ended with a score of 0 – 25. But this didn’t have any negative impact on PWLS. In fact, quite the opposite! It has only made the team even more determined for the next match. Bring on Singapore!

PWLS men opened their 8 month OP HIGHMAST deployment with a tough closely fought encounter in National Stadium in Chania. Under a blazing sun the team composed of both Ship’s Company and embarked air wings held on for a 35 -37 win.

With no permanent league on the island our gracious hosts had arranged several matches against visiting warships of the Task Group to maximise their opportunity for games. A 10-a-side 60 minute game format was agreed with rolling subs which the PWLS team became very grateful for as the temperature continued to rise.

With the grass on the pitch as patchy as PWLS’s tackling in the first half the Gunners recovered from conceding an early opening try to take the lead at half time 21 – 17. PWLS set piece both at scrum and line out was working well through the first half, with confidence growing as players started to gel with those around them. A much needed half time water break allowed for some choice words from the coaching staff regarding tackling the much larger Cretan players.

With their ears still ringing the second half got under way with 2 quick scores from PWLS who had started to move the ball wide early rather than take on the larger physical Cretan players. PWLS continued to pile on scoreboard pressure and with 5 minutes to go were 28 – 37 up however a break away try from the Gunners resulted in a tense closing 5 minutes as PWLS defended on their own line, holding out for the win.

Try scorers: AB Solodia, AB Walker, LH Turnbull, LT White, AB Tuivadra, AB Will Suka x 2

A huge thank you from PWLS to the Cretan Gunners for hosting both Men’s and Woman’s matches, and we wish them every success as they attempt to grow the game on the Island. Special thanks to Lt Huggett for officiating the match and ensuring a free-flowing game that was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

PWLS men and women have multiple fixtures planned over the coming deployment, with contact training opportunities limited on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier. The players will take advantage of any time on deck to play touch rugby. The team’s next game will be against the Singapore Cricket Club.