NAVY NEWS, JULY 2007 49
Maroons mauled
Sharks bite
on debut in
Benidorm
in birthday clash
THE RN Sharks Rugby 7s made
their debut appearance in the
Benidorm 7s Tournament, writes
WO1 Don Shaw, team manager.
The Benidorm 7s is a very-
well-run and popular event on
the 7s circuit, hosted by La Villa
Rugby Club in their beautiful new
THE BLUES marked
stadium in Villajoyosa, fi ve miles
outside Benidorm.
the tenth birthday of The Sharks were honoured
Rugby League under
to be invited to compete in
the White Ensign with a
the International Selections
comprehensive victory
Tournament.
Teams from all over the world
over the green berets competed including Stellenbosch
in the inaugural RN-RM
University Rugby Football Club
clash.
– the second-oldest rugby club
The sailors walked out against
in South Africa – who boast
the Maroons of the Corps on a
1,200 registered players and
baking-hot evening at Burnaby
have produced 164 Springboks,
Road in Portsmouth, writes RNRL
including 15 captains down
spokesman WO Keith Humpleby.
the years. Other competitors
Although match referee Steve
included defending champions
Davis was no stranger to RNRL, he
Welsh Wizards, who counted
knew he would have his hands full
many Welsh and English premier
in this potentially fi ery encounter
players in the ranks.
and to his credit he handled the
The Sharks found themselves
game adeptly, dealing with the few
drawn in the strongest group
fl ashpoints well and allowing the
and unfortunately lost to
game to fl ow whenever possible.
Stellenbosch, who eventually
The fi rst half was a physical
won the tournament, in their fi rst
affair with both sides eager to get
game.
on top and boss the game.
The South African unit were
Scoring was tit-for-tat
very fi t, fast and slick and went
throughout the 40 minutes with
on to take the title with little
the marines taking advantage of a
opposition.
couple of handling errors to score
It was a bit of a shock for the
under the posts, allowing Jamie
Sharks to come up against such
Goss relatively easy conversions.
strong opposition in their fi rst
The pick of the Royals’ tries
competitive game of the season.
was the last of the half when a
Under the watchful eye of
promising move by the Navy
coach CPO(PT) Billy May the
down the left was halted by an
Sharks raised themselves and
interception and 60-metre sprint
went on to win the next two
to the line by centre Geraint
matches, beating Spain’s Viator
Kettley.
Barbarians 28-7 thanks to three
For the Navy a try from ‘Jack’
tries from S/Lt Adam Dean and
Lemmon opened the scoring and
one from Mne Carl Saunders 1.
the half was rounded off with two
Next up were Selecc’ion
scores for Matthew Murray who
Moldavia, dispatched by the
was clearly enjoying being back in
Sharks 21 – 7, with a pair of tries
the thick of the action.
from Saunders and one from
While the RM made the most
Mne Rob Lloyd, courtesy of an
of the Navy’s errors, the Navy
audacious side-step.
pack was in charge in centre fi eld,
Unfortunately the hard ground
Lewis Taylor and Gareth Sharpe
and fi erce competitiveness of the
especially. And the trusted boots
fi rst three matches knocked a bit
of Scott Partis were on hand with
of the wind out of the Sharks’
four goals during the half to give
sails and by the second day the
the RN a 24-18 advantage at the
injury list was growing.
break.
The draw saw the Sharks face
The Royals opened the second
the Welsh Wizards, who proved
period strongly, pressing for the
too strong for their RNRM
equalizing score.
opponents, running out 27-5
After being held up over the line
victors; the highlight, however,
at the fi rst attempt the Corps were
was an excellent try from AB
awarded a penalty and elected to
Dave Roberts, sent into space by
run the ball instead of taking a
a skilful pass from Mne Gaz Fear.
relatively-easy two points.
All in all, a very succesful
The decision was rewarded
showing for the Sharks in their
when infl uential second row Carl
fi rst outing of the season and
Gilson forced his way over under
another fi rst in the Benidorm 7s.
the posts and with the resulting
They left with our heads held
conversion the scores were evened
high... and the promise of another
up at 24-24.
invite next year.
After a particularly physical few
■ HMS Cornwall made a short
minutes Partis took the steam out
stop in Dammam, Saudi Arabia,
of the situation by slotting over
giving its rugby team the chance
a towering drop goal to nose the
to turn out against the DHL
Navy ahead.
Khobar Quins.
● No way through – this time... Marc Warren tries to barge his past the RM line during the
The marines were now fi nding
RN’s comprehensive triumph
The ten-a-side game was
it increasingly diffi cult to get any
Pictures: LA(Phot) Emz Tucker, FRPU Whale Island
played at 7pm under fl oodlights,
meaningful possession and the
with high humidity and
Navy took full advantage initially
relatively inexperienced in RL and The game was a thriller and to York’s skipper
temperatures over 30˚C.
with a well-deserved try for prop
were drawn in the same group as was only decided by a missed Johnson.
The players displayed
Lewis Taylor again converted by
last year’s winners HMS Sultan conversion with both sides scoring The match
enormous commitment and
Partis.
and a team from HMS Raleigh three tries apiece. to watch
stamina to withstand the
This opened the gates for the
coached by RNRL head coach The second semi saw Raleigh this month
overbearing conditions.
Navy side and the Blues began to
Wayne Okell. lock horns with the other pre- is the CS
A very vocal crowd of some 60
fi nd more gaps especially down
The RMSM were comfortably tournament favourites, HMS clash against
supporters were at hand to shout
the right hand channel.
beaten by the more experienced Nelson, in another enthralling Australian
encouragement and occasionally
Tries from Dane Smallbone,
sides but were not lacking in fitness match which saw the Portsmouth Students which
disapproving banter at the
Partis and two from winger Marc
or enthusiasm and hopefully side take the honours. will be hosted by
players.
Warren late on sealed the victory
will field a team in next year’s The final was a tight match with RAF Uxbridge
Khobar were missing a number
with Partis adding a further fi ve
competition. no scores recorded to either side on Tuesday
of players and could only fi eld a
goals to his fi rst half tally.
It was generally thought that the at the half time break. July 3, kick-
team of mostly over 35-year-olds.
The full-time score of 55-24
final would be contested by Sultan Nelson started the second off 7.30pm.
Two of the mainstays of
in the RN’s favour did not truly
and Nelson but this was not the period by far the stronger side and
the team are also RN serving
refl ect the effort put in by the case as the team from HMS York, deservedly bagged two tries. members (Lt Cdr Mike Loane
Marines squad some of whom led by RNRL vice captain Danny With time running out, York and WO1 Tony Mulrain who
had hardly had any team coaching Johnson, turned out to be the dark struck back, thanks to a 40-metre work in Jubail Naval Base as
sessions ahead of the game. horses of the competition joining solo break from Johnson which part of a small Naval contingent
The pitches at Temeraire have Raleigh, Sultan and Nelson in the meant that Nelson could not relax supporting the Royal Saudi Naval
received a pounding from the semi finals. until the final whistle. Force minehunter fl eet).
RNRL lads this summer, with Ahead of the semis, the plate Sultan salvaged some pride by HMS Cornwall’s team
Pompey also hosting the annual competition was completed beating Raleigh in the third-place consisted of a mixture of young
Inter Unit 9s competition with with HMS Heron beating HMS play-off match. and ‘not so young’, but the
100 players and seven teams Nottingham and the RMSM to RN and CS Rugby League opportunity was there for ‘rolling
converging on the Solent for the claim the trophy. President Rear Admiral Chris substitutes’, ensuring that
event. The first semi produced Parry presented the prizes to the ● True grit... Grim determination everyone could take to the park.
The Corps was represented by arguably the biggest shock of the victorious Nelson squad, and to is etched on the faces of Age and experience prevailed
a squad from the RM School Of day as Sultan went down narrowly runners-up York, as well as the both players during the over youth in the end, with DHL
Music in Portsmouth, who were to Johnson’s HMS York side. player of the tournament trophy Inter-Unit 9s contest running out 60-28 winners.
0048-052_NN_Jul.indd 248-052_NN_Jul.indd 2 119/6/07 16:53:549/6/07 16:53:54
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