Top 10s for Montrose in Bahrain
HMS Montrose braved the Gulf heat to take on teams from Bahrain and Saudi Arabia on Friday for the Bahrain RFC Avlon Active Tens tournament.
The Type 23 Frigate have recently conducted a crew handover in Bahrain and there was no better welcome for the sailors to the Gulf than a Rugby 10s tournament organised by the always welcoming Bahrain Rugby Football Club. The Tournament took two teams from Bahrain RFC (the Reds and the Blacks), two from Riyadh and Al Khobar in Saudi Arabia as well as the one from the Duke Class Frigate. The Ship's team also incorporated players from their Royal Marine Boarding Team, the UK Naval Support Facillity, and an RNRU old boy from .
With training time limited for the Ship team they were always going to be plaing against the odds, nonetheless the players put in big tackles, darting runs and huge amounts of heart into each of their matches which were accompanied by the shouts and screams of supporters who grew increasingly festive and sang along to a live band belting out much-loved rock classics throughout the afternoon.
The first match that the Ship played in lacked fluidity and cohesion that comes from training and playing together (which all the other teams do). But in the second match, against Al Khobar, the Royal Navy players came alive and attacked their Saudi opposition with depth, pace and power. They were rewarded with great scores and the victory that they deserved.
In the other 2 matches the Ship was simply outplayed by better opposition and thus they cemented their 4th place finish in a tournament that was ultimately won by the home Bahrain RFC (reds) in an action packed final against Riyadh.
As the RNRU Old Boy, Lt Cdr Doc Cox said "Considering they all play and train together, the Montrose were always up against it. In the end rugby was the winner and new friendships created so here's to the next game!"