Navy 0 - 53 Army

In the shadow of the home of English Rugby lies Kneller Hall; built in 1709 it was the country home of the celebrated court portrait artist, Sir Godfrey Kneller. In 1857, Field Marshall HRH The Duke of Cambridge, then Commander in Chief of the British Army engineered the acquisition of Kneller Hall for the purpose of establishing a school for training British Army bandsmen, and thus was formed the Royal Military School of Music.

Photo Courtesy of the Ministry of Defence © Crown Copyright

For years now a longstanding annual fixture in the grounds of Kneller Hall has been the rugby tournament between the British Army and the Royal Navy, but the criteria is slightly differerent from that of the game that kicks off every year at 3pm on the afternoon of the first Saturday in May at Twickenham. The members of the forces who partake in this arena must be at least 35 years of age. And so we have the Army Veterans competing against the Ancient Mariners.

But you must not let the age of these spritely contestants lull you into the illusion that this game may be a little slow paced, not so energetic, or any less fierce a contest than that of the afternoon. In fact the rivalry is likely to be far more far-reaching; years of battlefield frustration is borne out here. 

And so to it was again on this grey and overcast morn; as the Royal Navy Women took on the Army Women's team on the far pitch, the Veterans of both illustrious forces of our great nation were warming up their well rested limbs; all the team were tucked up in bed well before the witching hour the night before - and how could I possibly know that you may ask? Well, the most charming Army Veterans Chairman, Lt Col Andrew Allen (REME) [pictured left], invited me to join him and his lovely wife Linda for drinks at the Vets' hotel the previous evening, and since there was only one bar in the hotel [and Coach Wilkins was partaking in a small libation now that his work was done in that bar, so the fear of God was no doubt put into these athletes], I could clearly see that they did all in fact tootle up to bed, and left those of us whose sporting ability was not required the next morning to get on with the job of denting the bar-room stocks.

The day began with the Royal Navy Reserve Band, followed by the salute taken by the head of the British Army, CGS Sir General Dannatt. On this final Army Rugby Union Centenary celebration of Inter Services competition, the first 20 minutes saw tries from Major Mike Nawaqaliva (RLC), SSgt Mark [Taff] Reed (RE) and 2 from WO1 Hywel [Taff] Thomas (REME). Taff Reed's kicking foot was obviously well practised as he easily kicked through conversions. His first-rate show of athletic prowess I'm sure was influenced by the presence of his perfectly lovely girlfriend, Rebecca, having travelled so far from her beloved Wales to support him. And on that note, may I pay tribute to all the delightful 'WAGS' that stood on the sidelines [many forced to wear short-sleeved army shirts in the morning chill!] and gave their all vocally in championing these fine mature specimens of the male race. 

Unfortunately for you dear readers, thanks to the Veterans' hospitality, I did not manage to quite make it in time for kick off, since the aforementioned bar was still serving until at least 2am. However, I did arrive just in time to witness Major Mike Campbell being carried off the pitch with a rather nasty broken leg - the tibia and the fibia to be precise, as he was rushed off to hospital in an ambulance from pitchside. And if you happen to be the slightest bit queezy, may I suggest not looking at the photograph in too much detail. At this point I headed directly to the VIP bar [via armed guards I may add] to order the largest G&T I could muster to get through the very long day ahead.

The Royal Navy Veterans, or Ancient Mariners as the are also known, may have begun the day with the upper hand in that they were the reigning champions in this yearly Army Navy fixture, and were here to defend their title and honour. But they had already lost to the RAF 38 - 5 three weeks earlier; the  Army Veterans had convincingly beaten the RAF Vultures 30 - 10 the previous week. The Army Vets were determined to regain their title that had been lost a year ago on this very pitch by 1 point.

After Major Campbell had taken his last bow this season, the pressure lapsed a little, but the Army were here to prove a point. This was their centenary year, and the plan was total annihilation. Wave upon wave of Navy incursion was met by a titanium-like defence from the boys in red. No matter what tactics the dark blue side employed, they were simply swotted aside like bothersome insects as the Army piled on the pressure and continued to widen the scoreline.

The slower pace subsided late in the second half, and with a smattering of replacements, the Army continued to destroy the Ancient Mariners in style. Skipper Major Steve Burton (AGC) [pictured right], WO2 Andrew [Taff] Lock, Sgt Dale Jeffries (RA) and SSgt Andy Kershaw ran in yet another five tries. Pitchside we had all lost all comprehension of the scoreline as the Army completed their abolition strategy, with a final conversion from SSgt Kevin Davies (RE) to seal the score at 53 - 0. With the Army Women having the same effect as the Army Vets beating the Royal Navy Women 36 - 3, all that was left was for the senior XV team to do much the same that afternoon at Twickenham, and the Army would make a clean-sweep at the Inter Services Competition 2006/7.

Following this rather splendid display, coach, Capt Ian Wilkins [pictured left] was delighted at the team's performance, but did say "if Mike Campbell hadn't been injured like that we would have put 70 on them" - I'm convinced he was right.  A quick mention and congratulations must go to Major Simon Orr [pictured far left], who so graciously looked after me at the Army vs RAF day, who had a double celebration as he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel so the champagne was on him later that evening. And I do hope that by now congratulations are in order for the gorgeous, glowing and hugely pregnant Lucy Jefferies, wife of fly half Sgt Dale Jefferies who on this super day was already overdue!

Chairman of the Army Veterans, Lt Col Andy Allen  said "following last year's narrow defeat, we wanted a clinical and emphatic win in order to re-establish ourselves as the number one Services veterans team. What you witnessed today was probably the best Army Veterans team to grace the Inter-services tournament.  Our ultimate goal is Gold at the 2009 World Masters in Sydney Australia, and this win sets the platform on which to build a winning team”.

Following this victory and that of the Senior XV, the hospitality of the Army Veterans remained unsurpassed as they entertained us that afternoon and evening and for that we thank them. And if you'd like to see the mayhem and mischief of the day, check out the "Who Let The Vets Out??" Gallery.

And the future? As the bedrock of our future 'Men In Uniform' section, we can promise much more of the Vets...beginning with a report from the Veterans Day matches at Moortown RFC at the end of June, celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Falklands War.  But for now from the Dark Blues and Reds, that's all folks!!

'Who Let The Vets Out???' Gallery