Army women fight off valiant RAF to secure Inter Service title at Kingsholm Stadium
The British Army women's rugby team are Inter Service Champions once again after a highly competitive final fixture against the Royal Air Force at Kingsholm Stadium in Gloucester.
Scoring eight tries overall, the Army continued their dominance at the Inter Services as the RAF put up a valiant fight, in which a scoreline of 12-52 doesn’t truly reflect the sheer grit and fight the light blues put up against the team in red.
As the game got underway, it was the RAF who bagged the first points of the match, with number 8 Ella Johnson diving over in the opening minutes of the game. Renowned kicker Daisy Fahey added in the extras with the conversion.
The Army went on the offensive by pushing the light blues into their own 22. An offload by skipper Jade Mullen landed in the capable hands of Courtney Pursglove, who dotted down to get the Army’s first points on the board.
Pursglove wasn’t able to convert her own try however, and they remain trailing behind the RAF.
The light blues were beginning to prove that they’re a danger to the reigning champions, as Ella Johnson dived over for her second try, bumping the Air Force up to a 12-5 lead.
With the RAF playing a brilliant game, the Army were being forced to play around with different strategies. After 15 minutes of stalemate, skipper Jade Mullen got the reds' game back on track with a converted try to level the scoreboard at 12-12.
The Army were beginning to pick up momentum and get through their phases, forcing the RAF to ferociously defend their 22.
Mullen would eventually break through again, scoring under the posts for her second try and handing the Army a 12-19 lead heading into half time.
The Air Force began the second half strongly with a great interception by skipper Lucy Nye, who broke through the Army defence to sprint straight into the Army’s 22, but was eventually held up by Pursglove and couldn’t convert her valiant run into an RAF try.
The Army, frustrated with being held up by the light blues, were again playing around with different strategies in an attempt to break the deadlock.
Their efforts were duly awarded with both inside centre Lou Dodd and outside centre Megan Griffiths both scoring within two minutes of each other.
With Pursglove adding in the extras, the scoreline sat at 12-33 with the RAF now up against it in terms of flipping that scoreline back into their favour.
But the Army seemed to have found their feet by this point in the game. Mullen's offload to Pursglove caught the RAF off guard and her dot down for her second try.
Moments later, substitute India King scored under the posts for another Army try and one that would indicate that the result of this game was only going to end one way.
King’s impact was clear to see since she came off the bench, as she once again broke through the light blue wall to score under the posts for two tries within a space of five minutes.
As the full time whistle sounded, a jubilant Army team celebrate yet another Inter Service Championship title with a 12-52 win, continuing their military dominance in the women’s game.
The RAF put up a valiant fight to challenge the Army – a strong first half for the light blues showed that they are a strong opposition to the elite-class Army squad.
Army tighthead prop Sophie Benavent was named the Babcock Player of the Match.
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