Army men send RAF crashing down in dominant display at the Inter Services
The British Army men's rugby team have crushed the Royal Air Force in the second round of the Inter Services, sending the airmen crashing down with a 48-17 victory at Kingsholm Stadium.
With a total of seven tries by Senitiki Nayalo, Samuel Ackers, Stu Cross, William Weeve, Vereimi Qorowale, Ifereimi Boldau and a penalty try, the Army's prowess on the rugby field showed why they were the reigning Inter Services champions.
The RAF, coming off the back of their draw against the Navy in Plymouth, managed three tries by Jonathan Taylor, Sam Sheppard and Isaac Norton who put up a strong performance against a powerful Army side.
The Royal Air Force were the first to score a try in the first half with Jonathan Taylor dotting over the try line with only three minutes on the clock.
Mark Williams converts the try to put the RAF 0-7 over the Army.
The Army was quick to answer to the RAF's performance in the opening stages as Fijian international Senitiki Nayalo made it over the line easily, as Owain Davies made a successful conversion to level the scoreboard at 7-7.
The reigning champions really began to show their prowess on the rugby field and centre Vereimi Qorowale made a quick dash to the line until he was forced to offload to flanker Samuel Ackers, who was on hand to bring the ball over the try line for another converted try for the reds.
The RAF showed no willingless to concede in the first half however and with half time approaching, it was Sam Sheppard who managed to push his way over the try line amongst a bundle of players, but Williams didn't manage to make it an equaliser after missing the goal post on the conversion.
At half time, the RAF trailed the Army 14-12 with everything still to play for in the second half.
The second half started off with the Army looking to extend their lead, and after a penalty kick bumped their score up by three points, team captain Stu Cross soon followed that up with a converted try.
It wasn't long until the Army doubled down with a try from full back William Reeve, but the try was unconverted, putting the scores at 29-12.
After offloading to his teammate in the first half, Qorowale managed to get a successfully converted try of his own, pushing the Army's lead even further at 36-12, making the reds untouchable by this point.
Things did not get better for the RAF after a penalty try was awarded to the Army between the goal posts due to foul play by the light blues, which automatically gives the Army an extra seven points to their already huge tally of tries.
Connor Morris was subsequently shown the yellow card and sent off the field.
RAF team captain Isaac Norton, who was playing his final game for the Air Force, scored a try with minutes to spare, but by this point the damage was already done for the light blues.
With seconds left on the clock, the Army's Ifererimi Boladau scored the last try of the game before the final whistle blew.
At full time, the Army proved why they are the reigning Inter Services champions with a dominant 48-17 win, putting them in a strong position before they face the Navy at Twickenham on 13 May.
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