Vase victory for 11 Sig Regt

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH Capt Ollie Richardson was buzzing after his 11 Sigs side beat Irish Guards 14-8 to win the Knock-Out Vase, although he admitted conditions meant it was a ‘game for the purists’.

On a miserable morning in Aldershot, wind and rain were the order of the day during a first half in which Richardson twice put his side ahead with penalties, only for them to be trailing 8-6 at the break thanks to a Gds Seru Poninese three-pointer and Gds Scoby Vuniyayawa try.

However, with their scrum dominant, No. 8 Cpl Jotame Nalewabau charged off the set-piece to put Sigs in front before Richardson’s third penalty secured the silverware.

And the delighted scrum-half said: “I’m buzzing – it means a lot to us to win the Vase, it’s unbelievable.

“Last year we got knocked out in the first round and barely even had a team, this year we’ve had three or four big games and whenever we’ve been underestimated – especially the young lads, some who are only 18 – we’ve stepped up.

“Most of our team are straight out of training, but some will be Army-quality players and it’s incredibly satisfying to do it with these guys.

“I’ve been in Blandford for three years and some have only been around for a few months, but we’ve been progressing and it’s awesome.”

Despite the poor weather, there was a cracking atmosphere in the Army Stadium, with Ollie continuing: “It meant a lot to both sides, and we tried to fill a bus with a fair few lads because with the Irish Guards based at Aldershot it was definitely a home game for them.

“The first half was horrible because of the wind, we were pinned down in our corners, but to go into half-time only two points down was an unbelievable shift.

“In the second half we did what we did, used the wind as we could and got the job done.

“Both teams’ defence was strong with only one try each, so it was maybe a game for the purists.”

And while Richardson and his teammates took the plaudits on the field, he was keen to pay tribute to both the competition organisers and the Sigs’ mentors as he ended: “For our unit training comes first so getting the lads out on anything other than a Wednesday is very difficult, but thankfully the ARU let us play all our knock-out games at home to allow us to get the games on.

“And a huge thanks to our coaching staff. There’s loads of experience – probably about 300-years worth – among those old boys, but they know their rugby and they’ve been teaching the young lads well.”

Words © Richard Ashton

All images – Alligin Photography © Lee Crabb

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