Navy Rugby suffer Exeter Chiefs defeat despite late rally

The Royal Navy men's rugby union team will take pride in their performance in the closing stages despite a 43-28 defeat to Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park.

A strong Exeter starting line-up overwhelmed the military side and raced into a 43-7 lead.

However, changes for the home side resulted in disruption and the Navy took advantage to make the final score more respectable.

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Sandy Park, which regularly sees Premiership rugby, is quite a setting for the Senior Service and there was a crowd of 2,000 fans in attendance

It was a slick start from the home side with a score in the opening five minutes through New Zealand international Josh Iosefa-Scott.

The Navy replied with a converted try of their own – Rhys Williams dotting down and a conversion from Jordan Gott gave the forces team a 5-7 lead.

That was all the dark blues could muster in the first half as the Chiefs took control and led 24-7 at half-time.

Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Rus Tuima and Facundo Cordero all got on the scoresheet as the Navy failed to cope with their professional opponents.

The second half started in similar fashion – Zack Wimbush, Jacob Morris and Orson James all scored to give the home team a 34-point advantage.

Despite the large mountain to climb, the Navy kept fighting and got their reward with two tries that came from a familiar source.

They used the strength of the pack after a line-out to cross the whitewash twice with Jack Wright taking advantage to score a double.

They were also awarded a penalty try but it was never enough as Exeter came away winners by a 43-28 scoreline.

Both the Army and RAF men's teams were also in action on the night.

The Army fell to a 31-5 defeat at Iffley Road against Oxford University while the RAF pulled off an impressive 66-17 win away at Coventry.