Wars of the Welsh

Welsh Guards Hammer Home Forward Advantage
1st Battalion Welsh Guards 28pts—2nd Battalion Royal Welsh 9pts

Dai Scarf drives

This Army Premiership Final lived up to its billing—a repeat of last years climax but with the slate clean and all to play for. Sub-plots galore. Remember most of these players hailed from the same corner of the Kingdom and it was Caerphilly v Cardiff, Builth v Bridgend and Swansea v Ystradgynlais—where ? well that’s the point ! Everyone was fighting a corner, blood and thunder guaranteed before one of these proud rugby Regiments lifted the Army Cup!

The Welsh Guards stood tall and produced powerhouse rugby from the whistle. The Royal Welsh weathered the full frontal storm and skirmished in any territory left by the Guards as they thrust in and out of attack.

The tackling on both sides was what you would expect from two infantry battalions recently returned from ‘ops’— fearless, shoulder into the largest hunk of meat to hand and no falling-off. Ball? What ball? – this was the Army Cup final!

Andy Dunlop Creates Options

The Guards had the pack, they scrummaged with menace and went through a predictable series of testing back-row moves. Dai SCARF was superb driving from No8 and turning the Royals defence—the Guards piled in behind him. More than once he interrogated the credentials of the first line of defence and then through the hard yards until the Royals threw their reserves into the fray. Ding dong?— time and again a whole peal of bells.

Chris Budgen on the hoof

For the Royal Welsh Denny Delaitamana was equally busy and made good ground supported by Paul Llewellyn. A repeat of the 2010 breakthrough was always on the cards with fly half James Read restrained only by the finger tips.

Both sides played their own tough brand of pressure rugby around the area of the grandstand at Aldershot attempting to force the error that might allow their Army fly half a long range crack at goal. The Guards squandered three attempts. Three times the Royal Welsh ‘s James Read stepped up to slide the ball over the bar.

Even at 9pts-nil there was an uneasy stalemate—neither group of vociferous supporters felt sufficiently confident to open the Queens Avenue Choir.

Dai Scarf - Man of the Match

The game turning moment came as the Guard’s Ryan Jayne intercepted just outside his ‘22’ to go the length. Maybe it was only 9pts-5 but the touchdown boosted confidence to say—‘We are OK—do what we are doing, do it better and tighten the screw’.

It was an obvious signal for the Royal Welsh to reinforce up front and they brought on Exeter Chiefs Chris Budgen. That worked, ‘Budgie’ had a bit of a tussle with his ‘oppo’ and Barbarian Melvyn Lewis, he had a number of great runs but leaks appeared elsewhere. Jayne scored a second try from good old-fashioned ‘backing up’ and fly half Rob Sweeney found his kicking range to convert, and then add a penalty for a 7 pt lead.

This was a seminal moment for the Guards to break into quick time. Scrum half Andy Dunlop found the confidence to go wide. When Felix Wright crossed from full back five minutes later and Tinny Hiscox made the try count 4—nil, in favour of the ‘Men of Harlech’, it was done and dusted. A final penalty from Rob Sweeney added a bit more polish to the toe caps.

Skipper Melvyn Lewis with Chairman ARU and Robbie Campbell – done and dusted

Both sides had given it their all. Three finals in three years—surely the Gods of Destiny had willed the Guards to achieve their just desserts. Even at 28pts—9 with a day sack full of tries they were going to savour this moment. ‘Every man and Emporer’ kept both feet on the throttle. Their moment has justly arrived and the last ten minutes were for all those players who since 1982 had played for the Welsh Guards in a Final but never quite made it.

It was that sort of rugby where warriors dug deepest into the crevices of their Regimental Museums and recent operational achievements to ensure only the very best would be good enough. In 2011 it was the Welsh Guards. Army prop and Barbarian Melvyn Lewis collected the Army Cup. Guards No8 Dai SCARF was named VEOLIA ‘Man of the Match’ with the tankard presented by another Welshman, former Army prop Robbie Campbell, it was leeks all round.
All we need now is for Wales to beat France in Paris!!

AIR SUPPORT SIGNALS LIFT OFF 21
21 Signal Regiment (Air Support) 30pts—26 Regiment Royal Artillery 25 pts

Winger Sean Thomas on red alert

Another cracking final where the lead changed hands at unpredictable intervals. For ages the scoreboard seemed stuck on 18 pts—19 to the Gunners as the digital clock ticked down. Then a flurry of excitement as the Gunners kicked two penalties for a commanding lead with minutes to play. The Signals struck back with an excellent converted try by bustling No8 Manu Lilino. A recovery that would have made Lazarus gasp was witnessed by more Pronto Brigadiers than most Corps have Corporals—and extra time 20 minutes to boot.

Two happenings of note in that deciding period. First a Cup winning try by ‘quicksilver’ wing Sean Thomas ( Signals 30 pts—Gunners 25) and then a Cup saving tackle from scrum half Mick Secker on 50 tonnes of Fijian artillery fired at the posts– worth at least 7 pts !Two well matched sides had entertained an appreciative crowd for 1 hour and 40 minutes with hard running and hard tackling rugby and little sign of wilt. It was a Cup Final in its own right and not a warm-up for the Premiership dual—an excellent advertisement for the Community Rugby and those who quite recently restructured Army club rugby. Signals wing Joe Bibi, who had a number of excellent runs in attack, was named the VEOLIA Man of the Match.