Navy women concede win to GB Fire Service in enthralling first fixture
The Navy Rugby Union women's rugby team hosted the GB Fire Service women's rugby team at their Burnaby Road base in Portsmouth in a first-ever clash between the two teams.
The Navy claimed the first try with Jess Bryan crossing over the line, which perhaps served as a wake-up call for the Fire Service who then began to dominate the line with the Navy giving away numerous penalties.
The Fire Service's Charlie Brunton then levelled the scoreboard at 5-5 before half-time.
The Fire Service returned for the second half firing on all cylinders, as Becky Davis darting over the line to finally give them the lead, with Georgie Tricker pulling out a successful conversion for good measure.
With the Navy now 5-12 down, they searched for a response to the Fire Service's earlier try.
That response came when first-half try-scorer Bryan offloaded to Caitlin Render before making a dash across the pitch towards the line, catching the Fire Service off guard for an enthralling try.
With the Navy now trailing at 10-12, the Fire Service began to take advantage of Navy penalties with Rafiuke Taylor and Emily Hird each scoring for the Fire Service as they began to clear off into the distance.
Render managed to get over the line once again for the Navy, but with the clock ticking down to full-time, 15-26 was going to be a big deficit for the home side to overcome.
A free kick for the Fire Service was the final nail in the coffin for the Navy as the full-time whistle sounded with a 15-29 loss in their first-ever clash with GB Fire Service.
Plans are now in place to ensure the Royal Navy women and the GB Fire Service women's clash becomes a yearly fixture.
The Navy women will travel to Brittany, France, to face their French counterparts Marine Nationale on 16 March before they begin their Inter Service build-up.
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