RNRU Royal Navy Rugby Union

HMS DARING RFC was invited to play the Adelaide Pirates by ex RM Mark Williams.

The excitement around the club house when DARING arrived was really evident, and the Adelaide Pirates were delighted to have us there.

LPT Simon Radford was asked to do an interview for their local news channel and the public soon started to arrive in their dozens. The teams were warming up, and the referee, a very scary 5 foot 1 inch female, requesting to be called Sir, was giving the Captains a stern talking to!

Luckily this was the norm for the referee, and as a result, she rarely needed to be stern again throughout the game.

The Adelaide Pirates have 4 teams, and they played a mixed team made up of their 1st and 2nd team, knowing full well that DARING RFC had not had much game time during the deployment. By the time the match kicked off there were about 300 spectators.

The game was close from the off, and it wasn’t until the 30th minute that the Pirates were first on the score board, with a try and a conversion. DARING RFC fought straight back and replied with a try by LET Brooks, after an incredible kick by Captain, Mark Highland, unfortunately the conversion was missed and at half time it was 7-5 to the Pirates.

The second half was also a very close call; tries from LS Scott and LET Golden for HMS DARING were soon cancelled out by 4 tries from the Pirates. Both teams were starting to fatigue, but unfortunately the Pirates held on to win the game 27-19.

On completion the hosting and hospitality was second to none. There were so many ex-pats there, wishing us luck and just wanting to talk. Everyone in the Port of Adelaide must have been there, and if it wasn’t for an early departure the following morning, the evening would have gone on for a very long time!