Chairman's Foreword
Major General RL Kirkland CBE
 Welcome to the Army Rugby Union 2010/11 season. Last year had more ups than downs but without doubt the biggest surprise was the Royal Navy victory over the Army senior XV in front of a record crowd of 56,000 at Twickenham. Their victory was well deserved and a good result for service rugby. It has breathed life back into the Inter-Service Championship and should entice an even larger crowd next year. With a new Army coaching team in place the result is up for grabs!
On the same day the Army Women and Masters teams defeated their Naval counterparts
at Kneller Hall, watched by a very healthy crowd of over 4,000 on
a sunny May morning. At Academy level the Under 23 team retained
the Inter-Service Championship defeating the Navy and RAF academy
teams.
Meanwhile rugby at grass roots level is flourishing. The Premiership has gone from strength to strength with twelve of the Army's top unit teams fighting it out in a thrilling set of matches. Two sensational semi-finals produced an all Welsh final where after 80 minutes of pulsating rugby the Royal Welsh ran out deserved winners over the Welsh Guards.
At Corps level the Royal Engineers continued their dominance of the competition with a fourth consecutive win beating the Royal Logistic Corps in a well fought final. In the Community cup, the 84 entries led to a Sapper v Gunner final with 25 Engineer Regiment running out victors.
The Army 7-a-side team entered the first ever National sevens competition and finished in a highly commendable second place separated only by points difference from winners Samurai. The team won 3 tournaments at Bournemouth, Manchester and Newquay and during the season took the scalps of IRB teams from France and Kenya. The team lost in the semi-final at Middlesex to our old enemy and eventual winners Samurai. We look forward to seeing what they can achieve at the Dubai 7s in December.
All together the Army Rugby Union is heading in the right direction with pride and passion. We have a good base at grass roots, strongly contested competitions, a well structured coaching organisation and a dedicated group of referees. We look forward to playing a style of rugby that represents the true ethos of soldiering combining team work, selfless commitment, courage and respect for our opposition. Follow the progress of our teams on their relevant pages.
|
