UKAF prepare for IDRC with stunning win over North of England XV at Kingston Park

The UK Armed Forces women's rugby union team gained valuable momentum ahead of this summer's International Defence Rugby Competition with a 29-24 win over a North of England XV in the annual Military v Cancer event.

The kicking of Daisy Fahey was key for UKAF in a tense encounter with their Northern rivals at Kingston Park in Newcastle.

The military team have one more match left to hone their tactics ahead of hosting the IDRC which kicks off on 17 August live on the BFBS Forces News YouTube channel.

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It was the hosts who started brighter on a sunny afternoon in Newcastle as Meghan Gardner evaded the UKAF defence to dot down an unconverted try.

It meant UKAF knew they would face a closer contest than last year's one-sided win, and they responded as good work across the line led to Kim Grundy scoring a try, which Fahey converted.

Try of the match went to the North of England team as they broke quickly from a UKAF attacking position and Evie Tonkin showed brilliant pace before offloading to April Ishida, and her unconverted try made it 10-7.

Once again, UKAF needed to hit back and try and get control of a match that threatened to become a problem. This time, Lucy Nye, Fahey and Rose Dixon combined to give the ball to Grundy, who took advantage of the space on the left to score a second try.

The second half continued in the same pattern as the North of England scored early on to retake the lead. Mackenzie Thomas-Robers surged through the defence and laid it on a plate for Libby Hall to score.

Georgia Burnyeat added the conversion and the hosts were narrowly ahead at 17-12.

It was UKAF's fitness that saw them get past testing opposition as the game ticked away and the military team looked stronger, quicker and more energetic in the closing stages.

Nye crossed over the line for another converted try and, moments later, Fahey herself scored and converted to give UKAF a nine-point lead at 26-17.

The North of England team were still not giving up the game though and closed the gap when Jess Dadds held off the challenge from UKAF and Army skipper Jade Mullen to make it 26-24.

Fittingly, it was Fahey who had the final say as her successful penalty gave UKAF a five-point gap and, ultimately, victory in Newcastle.

The afternoon proved to be an important test for this UKAF team, who will be eyeing up IDRC glory on home soil later in the summer.

Speaking to BFBS after the final whistle, UKAF Head Coach Sarah Mitchelson said: "Now this game's over, I think we're now starting to see the buzz. You can start to feel it in the camp this week, knowing we’ve got a fixture at the end.

"We're really excited to just show what service rugby is. I know that we do it as IS (Inter Service), but to come together and really show the world what IS rugby is, especially at the same time, around the World Cup, it's really nice to be able to showcase it."