Academy Match Reports

Army U20s (0) v Hampshire (69)
HMS Collingwood – 6 Feb 11

The Inter Counties competition for the 2011 season kicked off on Sun 6th Feb with the Army U20s playing Hampshire at HMS Collingwood. The Hampshire side were a well drilled and professional outfit who tested the resolve of the much smaller in stature Army side from the outset. Player for player they were at least a stone heavy in the forwards although the Army players took them on up front and did not take a backward step at any stage.

It took Hampshire 13 mins to break through the Army’s stout defence, however this led to some despondency and Hampshire seized the initiative and scored a further 6 tries in the first half. The strength and size of the Hampshire’s pack started to take its toll with the Army forwards feeling the strain and pressure from a much larger pack. This resulted in Hampshire scoring a further 31 points in the second half to secure a conclusive 69 – 0 victory.

The Army players worked tirelessly through out the game and were very unfortunate not to have scored them selves. Players of note for the Army U20s were Fus Troy Roberts 1 RWELSH and Gdsm Evans 1 WG who put in top class performances and were both contenders for man of the match, however it was Spr Josh Branley from 32 Engr Regt who’s work rate and overall play made him man of the match for the Army.
Posted: 8 Feb 11

Army U23s XV (35) v Irish Exiles (25)
17 Oct 10

The Army U23 had a storming first half to establish an unassailable lead against an Invitation Irish Exiles squad who rallied well in the second half; the Irish Exiles had some very talented individuals who then started to gel as a team. This should take nothing away from the Army however, who have continued to experiment with a number of player combinations as part of their build up to the Inter Service Championship in November. Both forwards and backs dominated for much of the game through precise handling, allied to high tempo and physicality in contact. They also had to soak up considerable pressure when reduced to 13 men for the last ten minutes of the game as a result of two yellow cards. A good result for this stage of the season. The next fixture is away versus Cambridge University on 31 Oct, where a further challenge awaits the team before they have some real focused preparation for the Inter-Services at their week long Conditioning Camp in Wales.

Posted 20 Oct 10

Army U23s XV (18) v RMAS (11)
25 Sep 10

The Army U23/U20s beat RMAS 18-11 on Sat 25th September in a well matched and played game. This fixture was the culmination of the trial for the U23s/U20s.

The selected U23 squad will now play Durham University on Sun 3 Oct as part of their campaign to retain the Inter-Service championships.

Posted: 30 Sep 10