Gnr Senitiki Nayalo (7 Para RHA) continued his scoring streak on Saturday afternoon when he crashed over from close range to help Coventry achieve an ultimately comfortable Championship win at Hartpury.
Gnr Nayalo spotted space in the Hartpury defence to break through the middle of a ruck near the home line to score Coventry’s fourth of seven tries. While the eventual result was 47-24 in favour of the visitors, the contest was nip and tuck up until the 65th minute, with the lead changing hands twice and Coventry having to overcome a two-player deficit in the first half thanks to a pair of yellow cards handed out in quick succession.
But Coventry pulled away with the three late converted tries which put them in touching distance of the Championship’s top four with a game in hand over most of the teams in front of them in the table.
Gnr Senitiki Nayalo crashes over for Coventry v Hartpury.
Image © John Coles
The other match to include Army players came at Scotstoun, where Royal Artillery pair Capt Gemma Rowland and Bdr Bethan Dainton both started for Wales in their final Six Nations clash of the spring against Scotland.
Bdr Bethan Dainton and Capt Gemma Rowland, both RA, in the red of Wales v Scotland on Saturday.
Image © Craig Watson
When Scotland came flying out of the blocks to score three tries in the opening 35 minutes the situation looked bleak for Wales, even despite two penalties early in the second quarter.
But after that point the visitors dominated the scoring, with a try shortly after the re-start and another late in the second half, both of which were converted.
However Wales had left themselves with too much to do, and with Scotland also adding a converted try and a penalty to their own tally in the second period the hosts ran out 27-20 victors.
Bdr Bethan Dainton and Capt Gemma Rowland, both RA, in the thick of the action for Wales.
Images © Craig Watson
“I’m really proud of them,” said Wales head coach, Warren Abrahams. “We can take a lot of positives from this performance to continue to build.
“We asked for a performance and that was the key thing. We saw some really good stuff and some real fight. The finish at the end showed that considering where we were in the game and I’m really pleased with the way we showed how we want to play.
“It was a tough start to the Six Nations, but the biggest thing for me and the coaching team is that we’ve learned some incredible lessons.
“We’ve got some confirmation of where we are as a group and what we need to do. If we want to compete at this level we just have to iron out the details behind the scenes.”
Words © Chris Wearmouth, Header and Featured Images © John Coles
