46 NAVY NEWS, MAY 2009
Oldies, but goodies in Manchester
WHAT started out as a bet between two HMS The only serious injury came in the fi nal
Manchester shipmates over the odd beer or two quarter when CPO(M) Brian Scullion was
in the Cape Verde Islands became reality on the trapped at the bottom of a maul. He was helped
windswept (rather than hallowed) turf of the off the pitch by the Ship’s Medical Team to a
Falklands. rapturous round of applause.
The vital question: age and experience or Despite being in considerable pain, he showed
youth and agility? It would be settled on the true grit and determination to make it to the bar
rugby pitch. later in the evening.
Two 20-man squads were formed – one over By that time, of course, the issue of bragging
35s, one under – with clubz LPT Lou Clarke rights had been settled. In spite of a fi nal fl ourish
trying to keep the two sides apart. It was, she from the youngsters, the older heads prevailed
says “the most difficult game I have ever had 10-5, thanks to a try from PO(CIS) Rattler
to ref.” Morgan following some excellent work by
There was feverish betting – first score, first CPO(ET) Will Thomas.
sin bin, first red card – and a ‘three-line whip’ There was more than age and pride at stake
for those who were not on watch to attend as here: the match was chiefl y staged to raise money
spectators. for the Busy Bee’s affi liated charity, St Ann’s
The game was split into four 15-minute Hospice.
quarters to allow some of the older players time And the match also provided an opportunity
to re-group. for the ship’s company to pay their condolences
The match was doomed to end in injury for to shipmate Logs Luisiano Varea; he fl ew back
some. From the fi rst whistle arms and legs were to Fiji three days before the game following the
fl ying in every direction, closely followed by sudden death of his two-year-old daughter.
elbows, head butts and the occasional fi st. There Two minutes’ silence were held before the
is no rank on the rugby pitch. game and it was decided that the money raised
“The fi rst blood injury came after about from the donation of four Sale Sharks ‘executive
nine minutes – which surprised the crowd day out’ tickets would be allocated to a charity of
who had hoped it would have been sooner,” Logs Varea’s choice.
said Lou (runner-up Dudley BMX free style In all, the match raised more than £1,300
championship 1986, member no.30,310 of the for the two charities, while the four Sale Sharks
Jason & Kylie Fan Club 1990). tickets brought in £600.
ET ‘Zac’ Mulaulau opened the scoring for
the Over 35s, rampaging down the blindside. A
● LPT Lou Clarke (in black) offi ciates as HMS
superb break from LS ‘Pony’ Moore allowed AB
Manchester’s under 35s (red and black) and
Mossop to level the scores at the break.
over 35s (orange and black) lock horns
Sportingly
Daring
ALL eyes might be on the whiz-
bang things the world’s most
The ’butz stops here...
advanced warship can do, but
despite her punishing programme,
HMS Daring has managed to fi nd
PRIDE comes before a fall – as
opening period – but could not convert Entries included an all-female The cup and plate finals were
time for plenty of sport. true a saying in sport as it is in
that pressure into points. The fi rst half Schoolgirls side from the 18-man mess, showdowns between Dhekelia Garrison
The new destroyer is affiliated
politics or war.
ended scoreless. held together by LMA Esther Tuff. She Tigers and the 45-man mess and the
with the city of Birmingham and
The second half refl ected the fi rst in was ferocious on the rugby pitch – Dhekelia Pumas and the 30-man mess
Menachem Ben Menachem, president
the island of Guernsey.
effort and stubborn defence from both inspired by the recent win of her home respectively.
of Israel Rugby Union, was rather looking
sides. nation Ireland’s Grand Slam triumph. Both finals were close contests with
Thanks to the former, Daring’s forward to the impending clash between
St Albans didn’t tire; in fact they The Schoolgirls fought admirably in all four teams pushing the boundaries
footballers have a gleaming strip, Haifa side Technion and visitors HMS
dominated most of the game and spent the group stage of the competition, of touch rugby rules.
courtesy, not of Birmingham St Albans, taking a break from Active
the best part of 70 per cent of the time in and came away with the prize of ‘best- It made for exciting rugby to watch
City, but their arch rivals Aston Endeavour duties.
the opposition’s half. dressed team’! but both Army sides arrived at the final
Villa. Technion had given HMS Summerset
They were rewarded for their efforts The wardroom mustered two teams whistle as winners.
Villa’s famous claret-and-blue (sic) a “thrashing” when the Type 23
after 55 minutes when the evasive who ended up fighting for the wooden The 45-man mess, led to the final by
strip has been modified slightly to visited Israel last year, Mr Menachem told
running of full back Lt Charlie Symcox spoon. It was lifted by Dutch exchange LPT ‘Kenny’ Kennett, took home the title
incorporate the ship’s name and the local English-language newspaper
resulted in him crossing the line. officer Lt Michiel Wijn, captain of the of most successful RN team of the day
the RN identity. Haaretz.
With the conversion missed, but a Red Roar. and were crowned Somerset’s Inter-
As for the affiliation with Would, the journal wondered, the clash
subsequent penalty kicked by RPO Jim The wardroom’s alternative side, the Mess touch rugby 7s champions.
Guernsey, well that prompted the “be used by HMS St Albans crewmen to
Noughton, the visitors were in control of head-of-department-heavy Gentleman’s And in Scotland...
entry of several Daring sailors in reclaim the honour of Albion lost in that
a very tight match. Pursuit, had a great day and were The key to success in any sport is
the Itex walk – a 40-mile saunter last encounter? Or will the Technion
With ten minutes to play Technion delighted to be voted ‘worst dressed starting young.
around the Channel Island (no boys take the opportunity to sink another
scored a try 20 metres in from touch team’ with their reincarnation of Rugby stalwarts at HM Naval Base
running is allowed, which is a visiting British Navy team?”
on the left but failed to convert and the Victorian-era attire. Clyde donated dozens of water bottles
good thing because the first half Well, let us fi nd out.
frigate men managed to hang on to their The PO’s mess played with passion. and woolly RN hats to Babcock Minis,
of the walk is particularly taxing Haifa Technion are among Israel’s
8-5 lead until the fi nal whistle. ME department colleagues PO Fiona Helensburgh’s youth rugby side for
thanks to the terrain).
better sides (they count a couple of
Meanwhile in Larnaca... Crompton and Chippy ‘Soapy’ Moy local six to 12-year-olds.
Back to Birmingham and
internationals among their ranks), hence
April 1 – April Fools’ day, the RAF’s combined to play some sizzling rugby, Not surprisingly given the location,
Daring put teams into both
the reason for the locals’ confi dence.
birthday and, most importantly for the but the 45-man mess and the Army’s there’s a fairly heavy RN presence in the
the city’s half marathon and
But it wasn’t just the thought of drubbing
lucky members of HMS Somerset’s (or Dhekelia Pumas did just enough to deny backroom staff, including submariners
the British Indoor Rowing
the Brits which fi red up the Israelis –
should that be Summerset? – Ed) ship’s them an appearance in the plate final. Cdr Chris Bull as youth team secretary
Championships.
“afterward,” said Mr Menachem, “the
company, Inter-Mess Touch Rugby 7s In a glimpse of sheer brilliance, the and coach CPO Billy Myers.
CPO Paul Buckley posted an
beer fl ows freely.”
Tournament Day. play of the day came out of the blue Youngsters in the area wishing to play
impressive time of 1h 36m in the
So there we have it. A solid Israeli
Seven 7s from Somerset took to the when Somerset’s CO, Cdr Andrew – or dads wishing to help out – should
former, while Lt Chris ‘Redgrave’
side with a couple of star names versus
field and the Army garrison at Dhekelia, Burns, slipped his opposition line a e-mail chris.bull884@mod.uk or paul.
White rowed the 2,000m sprint
a bunch of matelots who’ve been at
who hosted the event, provided three dummy pass, which opened space on myers378@mod.uk.
in an equally-imposing time of
sea for most of 2009 and only played
additional teams to spice up the the wing for a well timed off-load to
6m 57s.
together on the rugby pitch three times
competition. Bradley ‘The Doctor’ Tomkins, allowing ● St Albans (in blue and white – yes we
in a year.
Blue skies, sunshine, and a hot day a match saving score in the corner. know it’s hard to tell) prepare for the
Forces horses
So the outcome of the clash at Kibbutz
with a cool breeze and firm ground: the By the same token – and directly in scrum against Technion (in burgundy –
Yizreel, 40 minutes outside Haifa, was a
perfect ingredients. A magnificent 7s front of the eyes of the onlooking WO yes we know it’s hard to tell) during the
foregone conclusion, then...
(groan – Ed) prize was all to play for and and SR’s mess – the same star man frigate’s narrow victory over the Israeli
on the web
And it began as expected. Technion
sailors and soldiers turned out in full lost his title as player of the tournament side. The match was switched from
were the stronger of the two teams in the
support, cheering on their sides. when he failed to apply downward Technion’s normal ground because of a
pressure in what was, in the eyes of the lack of fl oodlights...
A ONE-stop shop website has crowd, a ‘certain try’. Picture: LA(Phot) Pete Smith, FRPU East
been set up for the forces horsing
world.
Forcesequine.co.uk has been
set up by Army riders Captains
David and Debi Heath French
to round up details of events,
competitions, saddle clubs, polo
matches and training centres.
The site is aimed at the
Services both at the combined
and individual branch level, and
also police horse sporting clubs.
Fencing begins
at forty
VETERAN RN fencer Henry
de Silva is looking for fellow over
40-year-olds to pick up their
weapons and compete against
other pastmasters.
The former St Vincent and
HMS Indomitable veteran can be
contacted at 6 Little Meddows,
Andreas, Isle of Man, IM7 4HY
or gd4ptv@manx.net.
He’ll be defending his
Commonwealth over 70 épée title
in Jersey in July.
046_NN_May.indd 1 20/4/09 17:14:47
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