Navy women are hoping to 'close the gap' with the Army at Twickenham
A big test awaits the Royal Navy women’s rugby team who are preparing to face the British Army at the home of England Rugby, Twickenham Stadium, on Saturday.
Coming off the back of a 34-12 defeat to the Royal Air Force in their opening Inter Service clash in Plymouth, the Navy will need to beat the Army by a comfortable margin if they want to hold on to any hope of winning their first-ever Inter Service title.
The Army women have been the dominant force at the Inter Service championships since the inception of the women's game into the tournament in 2003, a sequence of titles broken only by the Royal Air Force's surprise win in 2019.
But for the Navy women, this year is all about continuing to build the strength and depth of their team under the watchful eye of head coach Chief Petty Officer Sarah Jenkins, who only took on the role in December.
Last year, the Navy took a sizeable step towards closing the gap with the Army, as Lieutenant Olivia Critchley-Peddle ended their 10-year try-less drought against the Army where she got over the line for the first time for the Navy since 2013 and for the first time at Twickenham.
"It was amazing, there's no other words to describe the feeling of scoring a try, one for the Navy and two at Twickenham," she recalls.
"Especially because we hadn't scored for so long against the Army and to be the first women's player to score in 10 years and the first [Navy] women's player to score at Twickenham, it was a pretty special feeling."
With that trend now broken, the team hope to continue to improve their game and go one better at this year's Twickenham clash and provide stiff competition for the Army side.
"So that' our aim this year, that we go one better than we did last year," head coach CPO Jenkins explains.
"And again, it's obviously starting to close that gap between us and the Army this year, and I am hoping that we can do it.
"I believe in the girls that they can do it, they've got belief in themselves that they can do it, so hopefully, yes."
This year will be team captain Leading Hand Rose Dixon's third appearance for the Navy at Twickenham and has played in the navy blue shirt at the home of England Rugby since the women's Inter Services was played at Twickenham for the first time in 2022.
She says that the event is an "amazing occasion" for the sport and for women's rugby.
She said: "The first time was incredible and then I never thought it could be matched and then again, the second time.
"Every year it's as equally as exciting as the first year, and it's just such an amazing occasion for rugby, for women's rugby, in particular, and for the families and friends who come and watch."
The Navy women will face the British Army at Twickenham on Saturday 4 May following the men's game.
Find out how you can watch live on Forces News YouTube channel and on RugbyPass TV here.
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