Royal Navy rugby league players secure historic win over Scotland A

The Royal Navy Rugby League team is not called the 'Band of Brothers' for nothing and on Armed Forces Day, they showed exactly why that is with a thumping 46-22 win over an international team, namely Scotland 'A'. 

The match was played at Crowtree, the home of Championship club Newcastle Thunder. Their chief executive Richie Metcalfe, a former Navy star, organised the fixture as a curtain raiser ahead of Thunder's match against Whitehaven (which the Thunder won 50-6) and a celebration of Armed Forces Day in Gateshead.

From the off, both teams looked up for a battle. Many of the Navy players were just back from deployments but you would never have known it. Sean McKervail went over for the first try and Ben Connor just missed the conversion before Scotland responded with a converted try from Keiran Moran.

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That was the only time the Scots would lead the match as the Navy bounced back. Team captain Brodie Lee-Butler led from the front and scored the Navy's second try which was converted by Connor, only for Scotland to again drive over following a scrum through Jordan Duncan. Cai Ellis added a third try for the Navy, again converted, to given them a 16-12 half time lead.

It was interesting to hear head coach Daz Bamford giving his players' half-time team talk in the main stand – pleased with the score but room for improvement. And improve they did in the second half. The Scottish players were no match for the Navy who surged further ahead through Pat O'Donnovan.

Scotland responded with their third try, but when James Teixeira drove over the Navy's fifth try to make it 28-18 – victory seemed assured.

Pat Coy's run for the corner was superbly converted by Ben Connor and although Scotland added a fourth try themselves, it was down to skipper Brodie Lee-Butler's charge for the line and for Connor himself to put the icing on the cake, converting his own try right at the end for 46-22. 

Bamford described it as a proud day for the Navy, who only conceded two penalties in the whole match, thanks to their disciplined performance. An added bonus was the arrival of new players in the squad.

It is hoped this fixture will become a regular one for the Navy and it bodes well for their journey in this year's Inter Services Championship.