Tough training and Inter Service impact: Inside the London Scottish and Navy rugby partnership

On a cold night in Chiswick, a large group of rugby players is going through various drills on a 4G pitch, including lineouts and moves, with floodlights illuminating their every movement as they prepared for their next big game, Cambridge.

London Scottish and the Royal Navy announced a partnership last summer, which led to Leading Seaman (Electronic Warfare) Tam Lindsay, Air Engineering Technician Jack Wright, and Lieutenant Declan Johnson joining the club.

BFBS Forces News spoke to three Royal Navy men's rugby union players, who are plying their trade for the Champ Rugby club in London, about the partnership, what it is like playing for the historic club and the upcoming Inter Service Rugby Championship.

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The partnership between London Scottish and the Royal Navy

The agreement allows the personnel to continue their military careers while playing for London Scottish, as the club is semi-professional.

"The relationship is growing, and it's something that’s embryonic at the minute, but this year has been brilliant for us and all four of us have featured in the Championship side," Lt Johnson said. "I think it's a great platform for service personnel to come and play a high level of rugby."

LS (EW) Lindsay plays as a loosehead prop and plied his trade for Havant RFC last season in National 2, while AET Wright, who is a hooker, broke through into the senior Navy side last year.

The last of the Royal Navy trio, Lt Johnson, operates as a second row and coaches the Royal Navy U23s as well as playing for the Navy senior team. The Exiles have brought in Army player Lance Corporal Solodrau Radianirova from the Rams, the National 1 side, for the season too. 

"I think it's been brilliant for us. They're disciplined lads. They're obviously stepping up to an extent here, coming to play Champ Rugby," Dan Nutton, London Scottish's co-captain, said. 

"But, they've taken that challenge on massively, and there's a good group of them here now, and they bring a really good atmosphere to the group."

Scaling up their level

The Royal Navy players have had to step up to a level they have never played at and improve their fitness and mindset throughout the season.

Lt Johnson, 34, said: "From a technical point of view, I think one of the biggest things is the detail that is brought to the table by both the players and the support staff, and the coaches is much greater than I've probably experienced in my career."

"It's intense, it's consolidated, but what’s good about it is everybody brings you up to that level," LS (EW) Lindsay said as he agreed with his teammate. "There's a lot of good rugby players here, so you have to step up your game in order to fit in."

Lt Johnson has had to battle injuries and a long break from the sport to come to where he is now, after having multiple knee surgeries and a shoulder reconstruction. 

For him, being able to play for both London Scottish and the Royal Navy is more than simply playing a game. 

"Last year, I had the honour of pulling on the [Navy] shirt and being involved in the Army vs Navy squad, which was a dream come true after being in the team back in 2019 and not quite making it," he said. 

"I then got approached by [London] Scottish with the opportunity come here and pull on this shirt and play rugby in the Champ, which is something I never thought would happen. 

"So being back in the sport was a dream alone. And then to play for two great teams in two amazing stages. I'm super grateful."

London Scottish's season so far

When we interviewed the players, the club sat in 13th in the table, with 18 points from 14 games. 

Scottish had won three games, and lost 11 games. They also had won two games from their last six. 

Describing the season so far, LS (EW) Lindsay said: "We didn't really hit the ground running, but we've consolidated with each other. 

"We had a bit on an honest talk with each other and now we've had a good run of results. We're more impressed with our performances on the pitch, particularly defensively. 

"I think we've put our foot down quite strongly on that mark. We're starting to get the ball rolling now."

The club's next match was against Cambridge, who were just one place below Scottish in the table. 

"It's one of the most important games, I'd say, just so that we can start to get this ball running because we set ourselves a really important goal of getting as many points at home as possible," LS (EW) Lindsay told BFBS Forces News before the game. 

"And we're really eyeing seven wins from the remaining games of the season at home, so this will kickstart that."

They went on to beat Cambridge 27 – 10 and move 14 points clear of the bottom of the table.

Balancing their naval and rugby careers 

Given the partnership, the players have to balance their Navy careers with training at King's House Sportsground and matches around the country from Penzance to Doncaster.

Alongside the significant time spent training with the club, the players have to invest a significant amount of time driving to and from training and keeping their bodies in suitable shape to make tackles and hit rucks against mammoth-sized opposition players. 

LS (EW) Lindsay, who is based in Portsmouth currently, works his day job from 8:00 until 16:00, before he gets in the car to come to training. He then arrives back in the port town at 22:30.

Speaking about the hardest aspect of mixing the two careers, he said: "It's probably just managing your body and managing your time correctly and trying not to burn out, really, because service life can be demanding at times.

"You find yourself travelling a lot…So, it's a lot of miles. It’s a lot of time spent on your feet. So, you just got to be careful with that."

Lt Johnson is just as busy as his colleague, as he has several different strands to his life, including coaching the Royal Navy U23s, playing for London Scottish, and doing a master's through the Defence Academy ahead of his next naval job. 

He agreed with LS (EW) Lindsay that time management is crucial to juggling his various careers. "I think time management has probably been my key [to] being able to ensure that I can facilitate all of them and keep progressing," he explained. 

Inter Service Rugby Championship

With the Inter Service Rugby Championship coming up, the time the players get on the pitch for Scottish will only aid their performances against the rival forces, the Royal Air Force and the British Army. 

Last year in the men's competition, the Navy beat the RAF 27 – 17, and the Army were victorious against the RAF too, winning 38 – 31.

However, at the Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, the Navy prevailed 37 – 33, after losing in 2024 to a last-minute try.

"I mean, there's a huge aspiration within the Navy this year to go back-to-back with [the] Inter Service," Lt Johnson said about the upcoming matches. "I think as individuals, we all wanted to go away and come back in the best possible condition we could for the team."

"I think being here and the more players that we've had playing at a better standard, the quicker we're able to build a squad, that has a good level of knowledge, a depth of understanding.

"And can then really be pushed to the stretch by the training support group we've got down with the Navy team."

You can watch coverage of the Inter Service Rugby Championship on BFBS Forces News' YouTube channel.