JJ Chalmers treasures special Army v Navy rivalry ahead of fierce Twickenham clash

Former Royal Marine and presenter JJ Chalmers has revealed his excitement for the highly anticipated Army v Navy showdown and says the "massive day in the sporting calendar" is something to savour.

The men's and women's sides go head to head at Twickenham on Saturday, and it follows a narrow win for the Navy men over the RAF in Plymouth in the first round, while the women are searching for their first win of the 2024 competition.

Having anchored the coverage of last year's scintillating Royal Navy victory in the men's Twickenham match, the broadcaster has paid tribute to the rivalry between the sides.

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He told BFBS Sport: "The military does healthy rivalries better than anybody and this is pretty much the biggest one, isn't it?

"This is right up there with the Marines and the Paras, as a rivalry goes. That just heightens the sport itself as well because the competition is so fierce.

"There's a welcoming atmosphere, first and foremost, and that's the nature of rugby, that's the nature of the healthy rivalry that the Inter Service competitions have.

"There isn't that sort of animosity felt between people, which is very good but, ultimately, all the talking when it comes to the rivalry is done on the pitch, and it is a fiercely contested match."

On this year's showdown, he admitted: "It's a really hard one to read. I think last year there was a bit of a sense the Navy could do it, but they were never going to walk it."

Describing last year's men's game as an "absolute belter of a fixture", Chalmers said: "That Raumakita try, which kind of came out of nowhere, really set the tone, particularly for the second half and so that really made the men's fixture one for the history books.

"You look at the championship so far – the Navy saw that one out, which is fantastic, but probably by a scoreline tighter than the Navy would hope for, but again, it's good for the Inter Service competition.

"We don't want to see one-sided victories – that's for sure. Actually, you can learn a lot from, this might be unfair to the Navy, but you can learn a lot from winning ugly, and so actually knowing that they can go the distance and when it really, really matters, they can see it out.

"Ultimately, that's what's going to count, come this fixture, because no side is going to walk away with it."

Chance encounters

The former Royal Marine spoke of his remarkable and moving encounters on the day last year: "First of all, I bumped into a police officer who was securing the stadium, that worked for the London police. I stay in touch with her because she is the sister of one of the Marines that was killed in my blast – Sam Alexander MC – so it's always nice to catch up with her and she's always got a smile on her face, and she loved the event and loved being part of it.

"I remember the Royal Marines Band were performing ahead of the match and I watched as the band sort of marched off, and then one member of the band sort of peeled off from the ranks and just bee-lined directly for me.

"Of course, you know, I've never met this gentleman before in my life, but my family has. Ultimately, he was the casualty informing officer, that told my family, came and knocked on – I'm actually at my parents' house right now – came and knocked on the front door of this very house, and informed my family that I'd been injured in Afghanistan all those years ago.

"So someone that I'd never met but had played such an important, part of my, you know, within my life, my experience, my journey – to use a Strictly term – and someone that I was absolutely delighted to finally meet and thank for his service.

"You know, what he did for my family, such a such a difficult task that he had to perform, but he did it so graciously. My parents always speak so highly of the way that he conducted himself, so it was an absolute honour and a pleasure to meet him in the most wonderful of circumstances."

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