A Saintly Training Session for Navy Men
When you are two week away from playing your biggest rival, in front of 80,000 passionate fans knowing that you have thousands more watching at home how should you go to prepare?
What about smashing into guys that have done it a huge amount for their club and country? What about sharing the experience of your journey with men that have been heroes of the British and Irish Lions?
The Royal Navy Rugby Union men got the opportunity to do just this week as they traveled to Northampton to train with the likes of Dan Biggar, Courtney Lawes and co. The Saints hosted the Royal Navy for a full contact training session as they too prepare for the run in to their season as they chase the Premiership play offs.
Obviously there was a man with a foot in both camps. On most Saturdays Logs (SC) Sam Matavesi is clad in green, black and gold but in April swaps club for Service to put on Dark Blue. The Northampton and Fiji Hooker (and Royal Navy Number 8) facilitated the training session which allowed Northampton to prepare for their memorial match against the Army and for the Royal Navy to learn from some of the best.
The session was led by Northampton Saints coaching staff Sam Vesty and Chris Boyd and built up towards a full contact session allowing the Navy to test themselves after their first inter service match. It also included a chance for the two teams to discuss each other’s culture and the Saints were appreciative to learn about the Royal Navy’s values and how they have been applied during the player’s careers on and off the pitch.
Ultimately the day was an outstanding experience for the Royal Navy men and one that has helped massively in their preparations for the Inter Service Championship decider against the Army on the 30th of April at Twickenham.
Tickets are still available for the Army v Navy and for those that can’t make it at the end of the month BFBS have been announced as the official media partner and will be streaming both matches live from 1330 BST.